Three's A Crowd
by outside998
Summary: Join Weiss and Ruby as they try to make their wish of having a child a reality, while facing hardships along the way. BumbleBY as a sidedish. A sequel to "A Rosy Evening".
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

But soft! What light through yonder window broke? It was to the east, and shone right into Ruby's face. Why the hell did the sun have to be so bright all the time? Annoyed she turned around in bed, away from the window, trying to get at least a little bit of shadow to be able to grab those extra minutes (or hours) of sleep. But alas, her mind wandered to her wife when she realized the left side of the bed was devoid of warmth.

Her eyes snapped open, head shot up, blurry vision wandering over the bedroom. Her hand felt the blanket as if to make sure Weiss was not just invisible and still besides her. After making sure she made a fool out of herself, she turned around to check the alarm clock on her nightstand. It read 9:43. Hopefully a.m. Ruby chuckled to herself for that thought. Quickly her feet swung out of bed, her muscles awake enough to make the maneuver look at least a little bit graceful. Yawning and stretching herself she made her way out the bedroom and into the bath, to take a long, hot shower.

On the way there, Weiss greeted her from the doorway of the kitchen, a steaming cup of coffee in her hand. "Hey, honey. Slept well?"

"Yeah, the waking up was a bitch, though", she replied, rubbing her eyes.

"As always", Weiss chuckled.

A quick kiss on the lips and Ruby disappeared into the bathroom. Weiss took her seat at the table, listening to the relaxing rushing of the water coming from the shower. The speakers in the ceiling of the kitchen played classical music, creating a welcome and warm atmosphere.

Thirty minutes later Ruby leaves the bath, looking fresh as the new day, rosy cheeks from the heat, hair silky and smooth. When she walked past Weiss to sit opposite her on the wooden table, Weiss could not help but notice the nice smell of roses accompanying her every move.

"I am going to talk with some scientists and medical doctors today about what we talked about the other day", said Weiss, as Ruby stuffed her mouth with eggs and beacon her wife prepared for her.

"Mmmhmm", Ruby mumbled, eggs and beacon sticking to her cheeks. She quickly swallowed, chucked down her hot cocoa, and said: "I hope they can help us."

Two days ago, Ruby and Weiss had Ruby's family over for a visit, and Blake and Yang had their adoptive daughter with them. Weiss spent hours playing with the small fox-faunus, laughing and giggling, showing her her dresses and fashion magazines. It warmed Ruby's heart and she realized that she wanted a child herself. That same evening, they had a talk in bed about it, and Weiss agreed to it immediately. Of course, at first Ruby was interested in adoption, but Weiss said she'd be damned if she was the one in the family to not continue the bloodline. Even if she did not keep the Schnee name, through her veins still ran Schnee blood. So that left only one option: Conceiving a child. Of course, conventional impregnation was out of the question, so Weiss hoped for the scientists and doctors working for her to come up with a solution.

"I'm sure they can. They are the best in the world", the snow-haired woman replied. "What are you gonna do today?"

"I thought I'd visit Yang, see how she and Blake live. I've never been to their place."

"Nor me. Too bad I have to work. You can take it easy the next few weeks."

"Hey, I've been sleeping in the fucking dirt for three months. I'll take any relaxation and comfort I can get", Ruby grinned.

Weiss leaned over and gave her wife a kiss. "I know, and you deserve it. I was just teasing."

* * *

With quick, steady and graceful steps fitting her social position she neared her office in the multistory building. As she approached the double door to her spacious room, her secretary stepped up next to her.

"Good morning, Misses Rose, I hope you are having a great morning."

"Thank you, Aki", Weiss replied with a light smile. "Have you contacted my scientists?"

Aki, looking sharp as always in her grey business dress, notebook in hand, wiped a stray strand of her brown hair out of her face and said, as Weiss swung open the huge doors to her office: "Yes, in fact, they already seem to have a solution. They are ready to speak to you whenever you are."

Weiss took a seat in her huge red chair (her favorite color, by the way) and scanned the papers prepared for her on her mahogany desk, patiently waiting for her to read and sign them. "That's great to hear. I will be with them after I finished this paperwork here."

Aki stepped up to her desk. "Your sister called. She wanted to speak to you."

Weiss threw her a puzzled look. That's weird. Winter is supposed to be somewhere in Sanus, dealing with the recent outburst of terrorist attacks there. Apparently, a splinter group of the military of Vacuo disagreed with the country's political viewpoints, and decided to attempt a coup. It failed, but the group found a surprising amount of supporters and sympathizers with the public, ultimately leading to riots and a civil war when protests to free the subjects where left unheard. The civil war lasted a few years, and the military of Vacuo was able to end it rather quickly and with as little bloodshed as possible, but many people were still angry about the government, and this anger lead a handful of people to form a far-left militant organization. For five months now they planted bombs in or near official buildings or homes of politicians, kidnapped and executed some of them and blackmailed the country for millions of lien. What was their name again? Vacuo Public Force? Something like that.

"Did she say what she wanted?"

Aki shook her head. "No. She just told me to ask you to call her back." She ripped a site out of her notebook, a telephone number written on it. Weirdly enough, it was a landline number, not a scroll one, and the dialing code suggests the phone to be here in Atlas.

She grabbed the note from Aki's hands and picked up the phone on her desk, quickly dialing the number. "Thank you, Aki", she said with slight concern in her voice.

Aki nodded and made a beeline to the doors, closing them behind her.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"So, who is gonna be the lucky one who gets to suffer the back pain?", Yang asked with a wide grin.

The Belladonnas and Ruby were sitting around the living room table, Ruby on the big grey armchair and Blake and Yang on the large sofa. On the table were an apple pie and a little kettle filled with tea and three cups, Blake's already halfway empty. Türkis was playing with her action figures on her room, giving the three women a chance to talk freely.

Ruby arched an eyebrow at her. "Yang, we don't even know if it's possible yet. We cross this bridge when we get to it."

"It is", the black-haired faunus chimed in from the couch next to Yang.

"Hu?", is all Ruby can reply. Blake hasn't said much at all during the conversation, so her voice kinda caught Ruby off-guard.

"For you two to have a child, with pregnancy and all. It already is practice in Sanus. It's still not commonly utilized, but the technology and medicine are advanced enough to actually give lesbian couples the possibility to birth a child, with both of them being the mother, so to speak."

"For real?", Yang said. "I was actually just joking with the pain thing. I did not know that. That's cool."

Ruby took a bite from her slice of pie. "Well, then I assume there should be no problem. The people working for Weiss are the best in the world. They already know about it and perfected it."

It was at this moment that her scroll buzzed. Ruby took it out of her pocket. When she saw the face of her wife on screen, confusion was written on her face. Weiss never called her from work. She pressed the green answer button on screen. "Weiss? What's up? Why are you calling me from work?"

"How fast can you come back to Atlas?" Weiss voice was shaking, sending off every alarm in Ruby's head.

"What's wrong?", Ruby replied. The tone of her voice made Yang and Blake grow concerned themselves.

"It's my sister. Winter is in the hospital." Weiss sounded close to tears.

Ruby's eyes widened with shock. "What? How did that happen?"

On the other end of the line, Weiss tried to calm herself. She took a deep breath. "It was a car bomb. Ruby, please!", she pled with her.

Ruby glanced at her watch. 10:26 in the morning. If she'd hurry, she should be able to catch the 10:40 air ship to Atlas. "I'm on my way, baby, don't worry."

"Thank you", Weiss sighed, "Winter is in the state hospital. I'll wait there for you." With that, Weiss hung up.

Ruby rose from her seat, stuffed the scroll into her pocket and said: "I have to go. Winter was struck by a bomb and is hospitalized."

Yang and Blake shared a shocked look at each other. Both rose from the sofa and gathered Ruby's jacket and handbag, where she had some candy in for the Türkis.

"I'm coming with", Yang suddenly said, putting on her boots.

"Okay", was the single reply of the raven-haired faunus. She did not really like the idea to be the one staying at home, but someone had to have an eye on Türkis, and she did not want to bring her to see Winter, considering that neither of them knew how bad her condition was. For all she knew, Winter could have been ripped to pieces, as dark as the thought might was. And she also knew that once Yang made up her mind, there is nothing that can make her reconsider. Maybe the end of the world, but even then, unlikely.

"Keep an eye on the little one for me, okay?" She gave Blake a quick kiss on the lips and dashed out the door after Ruby, making a sharp right turn to the garage, where Yang's bike was stored.

Quickly the sisters put on their helmets, Ruby taking a spare one from the little wooden shelf at the wall of the garage. "Thanks, sis." She wrapped her hands around Yang's waist as she revved the engine, the sound reverbing though the streets.

"No problem. She is my sister, too, after all."

Ruby was unbelievably grateful for her sister.

* * *

The drive to the airship took five minutes, but for Ruby it felt like an eternity. Yang broke every speed limit in Patch, drove over every red light, overtook every car. The ship was still waiting in the bay, not scheduled for takeoff for another nine minutes. Ruby bought them tickets while Yang stored her bike in the back of the ship with the luggage of the other passengers.

"Okay", Yang sighed as she took a seat next to her sister, "the bike is secured, the ship will take off in two minutes. How are you holding up?"

"I'm okay, but I am worried about Weiss." Her leg shook constantly, her arms crossed and fingers clawing into her arms. "She was crying, Yang."

"Understandable, don't you think? I mean, the only relative she ever really gave a shit about came close to dying."

Ruby scoffed. "Does not mean I have to like it."

"I did not say you have to." She put her left arm comforting on Ruby's shoulder. "But we both know they are strong."

Ruby knew her sister was right. Weiss said that Winter was in the hospital, not dead, so that should be at least some form of relieve. Still, Weiss sounded so sad, so… broken, almost. She lost her mother – the only person besides her sister she ever really cared for in the family - to alcohol, her father died of a stroke, and her brother… well, as Weiss said: Wherever he is, it's good that he's not here. He never got over their father's death. He was way too attached to him. So, when Weiss got to know her sister came close to dying she was most likely scared to lose the only person still alive in her family she cares about, and who cares about her. And right now, Ruby just wants to take her wife in her arms and tell her that everything will be fine.

Finally, the airship's turbines sped up, and a rumble went trough it as is took off towards Atlas. A small sigh of relieve escaped Ruby's lungs. Only a little longer, and she will be with Weiss.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Weiss took a deep breath, steeling her nerves for what she is about to see. She knocked on the door of the hospital room guarded by two soldiers - who luckily recognized her and did not try to stop her - awaiting a response from the other side.

"Come in."

Weiss felt a little bit relieved. At least her voice sounds like usual, firm and strong. She opens the door, and carefully peeks inside. What she saw made her feel incredibly uneasy: Winter was laying in her bed, the upper part of it raised into an upright position. Her left arm was bandaged and rested in a strap fixated above the bed. Her left leg was in a cast, hanging in a strap as well. She had a light blanket pulled over her torso, probably more to keep at least some modesty, rather than to actually warm her. After all, those hospital gowns can be quite… open.

Next to her bed stood General Ironwood and Qrow, seemingly talking with Winter before Weiss interrupted them. Ironwood demeanor looked collected, but his face showed a slight hint of concern. Qrow, on the other hand, looked like he hasn't slept or showered in days. So, he looked like always, Weiss thought jokingly.

"Hi, Weiss", Winter greeted her. Her smile was bright and genuine.

Weiss stepped up to her and gave her a gentle hug, careful not to touch her bandaged limbs. "God, I am so happy to see you. What happened?"

Winter looked at Ironwood, knowing she was not supposed to talk about military operations and anything related to them. Classified, as she always said. Ironwood nodded, giving her the freedom to speak. "It happened while we were guarding the meeting of politicians regarding the Public Freedom Vacuo terrorist attacks."

So _that_ was their name.

Winter continued: "A few days ago me and Qrow were positioning my men around the perimeter. We were just starting blocking the streets around the city hall, guiding all the cars out and cleaning the streets. One of the cars suddenly accelerated, drove towards me and my men and exploded. I was lucky enough to stand behind my men, so I wasn't hit as hard. We lost a lot of good men."

"And why am I only hearing of it _now_? I mean, there wasn't even anything in the news!"

This time, Ironwood spoke. "We kept it out of media to not stir up the masses even more. The people of Sanus are scared, in Vacuo even more so. Everything regarding that attack had to be controlled until we knew what and how it happened. That also included phone calls. She was not allowed to call anyone."

Weiss was angry. Her sister was hurt, for days, and she did not know it. She understood the reasoning, but she wished she could have been there for her. "How bad are your injuries?" She was not sure if she wanted to know, but she had to.

"She was in pretty bad shape", answered Qrow. "She was lucky I was nearby, dealing with a few citizens when I heard the explosion. I found her laying on the sidewalk, bleeding heavily."

"Please, Qrow, don't scare her", Winter replied. "It was not that bad."

He laughed humorless. "The doctors worked on you for ten hours straight. You had metal in your abdomen and your arm and leg were cut open, woman."

"Excuse me?", Weiss chimed in. "Winter, that sounds horrible!"

Winter did not say anything. She did not even look at Weiss. She hated making her little sister worry.

"Trust me, it was", Qrow continued. "I was afraid she was going to bleed out."

"So, how long is she going to have to stay at the hospital?"

"She'll be here for a couple of weeks. Two months at least. Ironwood placed some guards at her door, as you saw. They are keeping an eye on her, in case the bomb was for her. Or for the case she tries to get out of bed."

Winter sighed at that. "I feel like a child being put under house arrest."

"You're not", smirked Qrow. "A child can go to the toilet alone."

"I hate you", Winter whispered, an embarrassed blush spreading on her face.

"No, you don't", laughed Qrow.

* * *

The automatic doors of the hospital open fast, but still with an agonizing patience. Ruby pushed herself through them and made a beeline towards the reception directly in front of them. Yang followed a few steps behind her.

The receptionist was working at something on his computer. As he heard Ruby's strong steps draw near he send her a polite smile and asked: "Guten Tag. Wie kann ich helfen?"

Ruby was confused for a second, before remembering. Right, they were in Atlas. Sadly her Atlesian is rudimentary at best, pathetic at worst. So, she just answered in Valian, hoping he would understand. "Ruby Rose, wife of Weiss Rose, née Schnee. Her sister Winter Schnee was hospitalized here. Can you tell me which room?"

The man redirected his attention to the computer screen, typed in something on his keyboard, and said: "Winter Schnee, room 1412."

Ruby thanked him and made a small dash around the round reception desk to the right, where the silver doors of the elevators awaited her.

The hospital was the most expensive and modern in Remnant. Over 500 doctors and 4000 nurses work on over 20 stories full of the most modern equipment money can buy. The halls were busy, green uniforms running to and fro, pushing patients from and to ORs. A constant barrage of noise was omnipresent, consisting of hundreds of people talking, rubber wheels rolling over disinfected tiles, sterile metal colliding with other sterile metal. The place had this typical hospital smell, only worse than Ruby ever smelled it. And she had a lot of hospital visits, considering her line of work.

The sisters finally reached the fourteenth floor, Ruby scanning the numbers on the plates next to the doors as she accelerated her steps. As she neared her destination, she realized that she would have found the room regardless: Two armed soldiers of the atlesian army stood on both sides of the door, guarding it like hawks. As Ruby and Yang drew nearer, the men straightened themselves up. "Verzeihung, meine Dame, aber ich muss Sie bitten, von der Tür wegzutreten", the man on the left of the girls stated.

„What?" That was the only thing Yang was able to say in her confusion.

"Oh, excuse me", the soldier replied after he realized they did not speak his language. "You are not allowed near this room, I'm sorry."

"I am Ruby Rose, the wife of Weiss Rose, sister of Winter Schnee, who is behind this door." She loved saying that, she had to admit.

That surprised the men. They shared a confused look, before the left guy spoke again: "Please wait here. I will confirm it." With that, he knocked on the door and stepped inside.

Ruby heard quick steps nearing behind the door. It swung open and Weiss almost knocked her wife over as she fell into her arms. "Thank you so much for coming", Weiss said into her shoulder.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Weiss lead Ruby and Yang into the room. To say it was a surprise for them to see their uncle here would have been an understatement. They both rushed him and loaded him with questions of what he was doing here.

After his explanation and the initial surprise faded away, Ruby took a seat next to Winter's bed. "How are you feeling?"

Winter gave her a little smile. "Not as bad as it may look, don't worry."

"Well, it looks pretty bad, honestly", Yang said concerned, taking her stand at the window on the left to Winter's bed.

A dry laugh escaped the older Schnee's lips. "Thanks."

"Where are you going to stay when you'll leave the hospital?" Now this was a relevant question, Weiss had to admit. In her mind she called herself an idiot to not ask it herself. Winter had no home in Atlas. She does not need one, she usually stays wherever her troop is stationed. The military pays for her domicile. So, while she is incapacitated, her apartment in Sanus is unoccupied. And knowing Winter, she would not request another place to stay. She would most likely try and get back to Sanus, maybe even continue to work, disregarding her health. That seems to be a Schnee thing, as Weiss remembered Ruby having to literally drag her away from her desk to get some rest. And when Ruby wasn't at home, she'd stay awake until the next morning, sometimes even longer.

"I'm going back to Sanus as soon as I can walk; I got a home there."

Just like Weiss suspected.

"Hell, no", Qrow retorted. "You are not going anywhere like that. Jimmy and I already talked about that. I got a place here in Atlas, and that's where you are staying."

Winter's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. "You can't be serious. I have to stay with you? You should have left me on the street."

"Schnee, listen." Ironwood's voice was calm, but cut through the beginning argument like a hot knife through butter. "You were the victim of a terrorist attack. As long as we don't know with one hundred percent certainty that it was not directed towards you personally, I will _not_ leave you without being in the care of someone capable."

"But why him?", Winter tried to argue. She knew it was pointless. After all, he is her superior. It's the thought that counts, right?

"Because I trust him. You don't have to like it, but it's my decision, and it's final. Understood?"

Her silence was answer enough for Ironwood. He straightened himself out, said his goodbyes to everyone in the room and left.

Winter's grumpy face forced a laugh out of Qrow. "Trust me, I like this as much as you. How about you heal quick, so I can have you out of my hair?"

"Fuck you, Qrow. I don't even want to know how you live. Does your place even have running water?"

Again, a dry laugh. "There is a rain barrel behind the house. I could dunk you into it every now and then."

This made even Weiss snicker involuntarily. She quickly covered her mouth with her hands, but it was too late. Winter glared at her and grumbled: "I thought we were family."

"In a way, we all are", Qrow grinned. "I'd like it if you called me 'uncle'. Or daddy, if you prefer that."

Winter's face lighted up like a buoy. Ruby, Yang and even Weiss bursted out laughing. "Come closer so I can punch you in the face", Winter yelled, but it got almost drowned out by the laughter.

"Okay, okay", Qrow said. He waited until the women calmed down. "Joke's aside, I will not leave you out of my sight. James asked me to look out for you, he ordered you to stay with me, so suck up your pride and deal with it. I have to, too."

A short huff came as a reply, then: "I don't have a choice, do I? At least I still got a few weeks in the hospital, so I can sleep in a normal bed a while longer."

Again, a little chuckle escaped Qrow, but other than that he stayed quiet.

"Oh, speaking of uncles and stuff", Ruby spoke up, calling the attention of everyone in the room. "Winter, if everything works out, you'll gonna be an aunt."

"Ruby!", Weiss demanded.

"What? What's that supposed to mean?" The older Schnee had a vague idea of what Ruby was talking about, but that idea sounded so unbelievable that she just had to be sure.

"Ruby is jumping too far ahead, as usual. We talked about having a child, and I was supposed to talk with my scientists today before I heard what happened to you."

Qrow raised an eyebrow. "Why do you need scientists for an adoption?"

Ruby's grin threatened to split her face in half, while Weiss was looking a little bit flustered. The red-head wrapped her arm around her wife's shoulder and said: "We won't adopt, we are trying for a legitimate child."

"Now, that's a good one", Qrow chuckled. "How are you going to do that? I don't suspect either of you has the equipment."

Ruby rolled her eyes at that remark. Weiss' blush seemed to increase. Winter just starred at the couple in complete disbelieve.

"You… you are thinking about indirect fertilization?", Winter sputtered.

Ruby gave her an enthusiastic nod. "Yeah, I talked with Yang and Blake about it, and they said it was actually possible."

Weiss' head whipped around so fast, that it seemed to fly off her neck. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, Blake said that it is already utilized in Sanus."

There was a sparkle in the younger Schnee's eyes. Her, no, _their_ young dream could come true! That was most likely what her scientists wanted to talk about.

The opening of the door pulled the girls out of their conversation. A nurse stepped in, a clipboard under her arm. "Excuse me, but visiting hours are over. I have to ask everyone to leave. With the exception of the gentleman, of course. I've been informed."

Winter stuck out her tongue at Qrow's sly grin.

The girls said their goodbyes to the two and made their way back towards the entrance of the hospital. Arriving at the parking lot, Weiss pulled her car keys out. Yang swung herself onto her bike standing right next to the snow-head's black Mercedes.

"I'm gonna drive Ruby home real quick. I reckon you're heading back to work."

"Thanks, Yang." Weiss reversed the car and made her way off the lot and back to the Schnee HQs. During the drive her mind was flooded with images of Ruby holding a little version of herself, playing, feeding, kissing, loving. Her heart fluttered a bit.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"I assume you have good news for me", Weiss started as she walked through the door of one of the many laboratories in the research facility of the headquarters. Her voice surprised many of the scientists there, too deep in thought over their projects.

"Misses Rose, I am so glad you could come." The voice belonged to the head of the team in this room, a surprisingly young man, maybe a few years older than herself. He enthusiastically shook her hand and introduced himself as Professor Asche. The remaining men and women in the room approached her as well, turning the situation into a handshake competition, is seemed to Weiss. The more hands she shook, the more violent the movements became, and her hand felt like someone stuck it into a vise after it was done.

She hid her hand behind her back, for one, because it really hurt now, and second, to avoid any more rogue hands trying to break her bones. "So, about me and Ruby having a child…", she began.

"Oh, yes, absolutely. If you'd follow me, please."

Professor Asche led her to a desk, and she took her seat. He approached the big interactive whiteboard behind the main desk – most likely his desk, Weiss assumed – and turned it on. Immediately the board lid up, showing pictures, graphs and paragraphs, all spread out on the display. Admittedly, Weiss understood none of what she was looking at, and that involuntarily reminded her of a saying she heard from Qrow during one of his stupors, back when he fancied the spirit a lot more: Those who can't, manage those who can. She hated that saying. After all, she is very capable, thank you very much. "So, what am I looking at", she asked confused.

"We gathered information, medical research papers, ultrasound pictures and the like. Basically, anything we could get our hands on, we took." He pointed to a scan of multiple pages full of text. "At first, we were a little bit discouraged. Every early report, when the first tests concluded, talked about malformation, retardation, or even death immediately or a few days after birth. Later reports were a little bit better, the death rate of the infants decreased from almost eighty percent to forty. But those reports also showed that the children that survived never became older that nine. And they still had severe mental disabilities."

Normally Weiss was above foul language, but now, the only thing that came to her mind was one of Ruby's favorite sayings: Jesus fucking Christ. She never expected those trails to be crowned with glorious successes, but _this_? Weiss did not even want to imagine what those parents went through. And one thing is for certain: Never, absolutely _never_ , is she going to subject Ruby to those kinds of horrors. Your child, the result of the love between you and your most important person in the world, unable to live a normal life? Or worse, never live at all? No, never in her life will she force her wife to go through such a trauma.

"However", Asche suddenly exclaimed, pulling Weiss out of her thoughts, "this specific medicinal field made a lot of progress. In only a few years, they were able to almost completely eradicate any genetic instabilities, and as such, completely healthy babies were born. In fact, many of them should be old enough nowadays to attend school." He pushed a button on the tiny remote, and the screen switched to images of newborns, toddlers and preteens. All looking healthy, the children playing and smiling. This is what she wants. What Ruby wants.

But she had to be absolutely sure. "And absolutely no genetic defects or anything?"

"Not more or different ones than with children conceived through heterosexual sex."

Weiss released a breath she was not even aware she held. "That's great to hear." The next question was embarrassing, especially when discussed with a stranger, but she had to ask. So, she tried to ignore the burning of her cheeks, and asked: "And, and how exactly does this impregnation process play out?"

A little grin on his lips, Asche pressed another button on his remote. "Oh, I'm certain you will like this modern solution."

* * *

"What's with all this alternative vegetarian shit in your fridge?"

"Excuse you", Ruby replied with a playful shock, pushing Yang away from the refrigerator to get some vegetables for the stew she is preparing. "Weiss happens to look out for us. And I enjoy the food, it keeps me healthy and fit."

"Yeah, no, that's not for me, Yang needs meat to survive", the blonde said, taking a seat at the island in the large kitchen.

"Really", Ruby asked, grinning smug.

Yang arched an eyebrow. She knew that tone. Some dumb innuendo was coming. And fast.

"I assumed you preferred eating clams." Ruby snickered to herself. She was on a roll today.

But evidently, Ruby was the only one actually finding anything funny about that stupid joke. Yang was not offended, not in the slightest. The joke was just not good. "Wow, sis, did dad teach you that one? Or did you pull it out of Weiss' ass in one of your sessions?"

Ruby almost dropped the knife she held to cut the carrots with. "You are disgusting."

The brightest, biggest smile Ruby ever saw was on Yang's face. "Yep", was her short reply. "Say, do you mind if I play a few games in the living room while you prepare food?"

"No, not at all, knock yourself out." That gives Ruby the peace and quiet to finish the dinner, thank God.

Ruby was in the middle of cooking the stew and Yang on her eleventh try at "The High Road" (curse those high-altitude hogs!), when Weiss came home. The delicious smell coming out of the kitchen gently caressed her nose, reminding her how hungry she was after a long and interesting day at work. She can hardly wait to tell Ruby the news (and show her this more than embarrassing way to go about their plans).

"Welcome home, honey", Ruby called from the kitchen.

"Yeah, welcome home, darling", Yang called in jest.

Okay, that surprised Weiss. She expected Yang to head home immediately, but right now she is sitting on the sofa, playing that weird platformer of Ruby's of which she can never remember the name of. "Don't ever call me that again, brute. Did not expect you to stay for dinner, by the way."

Yang risked a quick glance behind her to the hallway Weiss stood in, before the level she played called for her attention again. "I haven't heard this nickname in years. And yeah, I called the Kitty. She knows."

"Fine by me, if Ruby is okay with it." Weiss was about to turn towards the kitchen, when she remembered something, stepped into the living room and said: "Oh, by the way, to get the gem on this level you have to finish it without dying."

Yang looked at her in utter disbelieve, before yelling: "Are you fucking shitting me?"

A dirty laugh escaped the heiress's lips as she just turned around towards the kitchen to greet her wife proper. Ruby was humming a little tune Weiss did not recognize, stirring the pod while dancing around. An absolutely adorable sight. Weiss captured her by gently wrapping her arms around Ruby's hip and gave her a kiss on the nape. She could feel Ruby almost melting in her arms. She leaned her head back and gave Weiss a passionate kiss on the lips.

"How was your day", Ruby asked.

Weiss snuggled into Ruby's nave and took a deep breath in. The rosy scent of her wife's hair filled her mind. "Very good. I got something that will help us make our dream a reality."

"Really?" Ruby turned around. "What is it?"

Weiss could feel herself blush. "I'd rather we discuss this in private, when Yang is gone."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Wow, I gotta say, sis, this tastes great!"

Ruby chuckled involuntarily. "Seriously? You thought my cooking sucks?"

Yang took another spoon full and replied chewing: "Well, I was the one who cooked back then. I was never really sure you even knew how to turn on a stove."

"I burned myself at one when I was small, so I knew at least that for a long time now."

Yang nodded knowingly. "True, true. Hey, you know what would taste awesome with that? Wine!"

Weiss almost choked on a piece of carrot as a consequence of this absurd train of thought. "What?"

Yang looked at her as if she was not even aware she said something preposterous. So she replied, more confused than anything: "What?"

The former heiress huffed. "First off, I don't tolerate alcohol in this house. And second, and foremost: Who the fuck drinks wine to stew? Stew?"

Yang gasped. "Did I just hear a curse out of the Ice Queen's mouth? Ruby, you are a bad influence."

Ruby just shrugged. "It's her house, so why not?"

"Honestly, after nine hours of work and constantly trying to uphold the image of the perfect leader and woman, it takes the edge off", Weiss explained.

"Oh, trust me, I absolutely understand. It was just unexpected, is all."

Ruby laughed a little bit and carried a mischievous grin on her face, sending off all alarms in Weiss' head. "You should experience her in bed. She is a real potty mouth."

Weiss was so shocked, she did not know what to say.

But Yang saw her reaction, and even played along! "Is that an offer?"

"Excuse me?", is all Weiss could ask. Well, scream, rather.

The only reply she got was laughter from both sisters. Great, now she is the butt of stupid sex jokes.

"Sorry, Weissy, but now you know how I felt when you spoke to Raven about me." Ruby wiped a tear from her eye.

"But I did not offer her to fuck you!"

"That would have been weird, to say the least", Yang added.

"Technically, I didn't either. I just spoke of experiencing. That could just mean watching."

"It could, but you did not mean it like that. I know you, Ruby."

"Damn", Ruby said mockingly.

"Relax, Weiss", Yang said, "we were just teasing you. And besides, if I had to choose a Schnee, it would be Winter."

That surprised Weiss genuinely. She arched an eyebrow. "Really? I did not think she struck you as her type, considering Blake's physique and demeanor."

"Well, not as a girlfriend, no. Just for a one-night-stand, or something like that. I mean, you must have seen women where you yourself thought that you would hit that, simply because they look hot."

How did a normal dinner turn into such a filth talk? Weiss did not know what to say. The expecting looks the two sisters threw her made her feel highly uncomfortable. No way Weiss Schnee ever looked at anyone else besides her wife with lust or any other ulterior intend. Would that not be just like cheating? Weiss Schnee is not a two-timer.

"Come on, Weiss. You can say it. It's totally normal", Ruby encouraged her.

"Wait", Weiss stumbled, "does that mean you do it, too?"

Ruby looked at her as if she contemplated if Weiss was actually serious with that question. "Yeah? That just happens. It chemistry and hormones, Weiss. You can't control who you find attractive. That does not mean loving the person or even just wanting to lay them. You can't tell me that I am the only person you ever found attractive, or just good-looking. I wouldn't believe you."

"Well, yeah", Weiss almost whispered. Her food was suddenly incredibly interesting.

"Uh, now it's getting spicy. Tell me, anyone in particular?" Yang was leaning over the table, almost knocking over her plate.

Weiss' head turned red like a tomato. How could they demand something like that? And why? Are they really that set on embarrassing her?

"Is it someone we know?", Ruby asked excited, almost bouncing out of her chair.

Weiss just nodded.

"Who is it, who is it? Is it Nora?" Yang could no longer contain her excitement and almost jumped over the table.

Weiss was almost offended by that. "No!"

"Someone from work?"

Again, Weiss shook her head.

"Man, Weiss, just spill the beans", Ruby demanded.

"Why should I? You'll get mad if you knew who it was."

Seriously, she is still thinking this? "Weiss, I told you, I will not get mad. It's completely normal to find other people attractive, even if you're married. Do you really think I have a switch in my head that flipped the minute I said 'I will' to you?"

"So, does that mean you like someone else too?"

Ruby shook her head. "Not 'like', but I find your secretary adorably cute."

"Aki? Really?" She had to admit, yes, Aki had some appealing attributes to her, but she never expected Ruby to pick up on that.

Ruby simply nodded. "Yeah, but that does not mean I would ever touch her or something. Because I may find her and a lot of other women attractive, but I only love one woman: You, Weiss Rose."

Weiss could feel her heart flutter a little bit. Ruby always managed to say the right things to get her relaxed. Maybe it really was nothing unusual.

"So, tell us, who is the lucky one?"

Weiss exhaled. "Okay, but you have to know that it is strictly the looks, okay? Only on the outside."

Ruby rested a hand on her wife's shoulder. "I know, honey, don't worry."

"Come on, spit it out already, who is it?"

Okay, here goes nothing. Weiss collected herself a little bit, desperately tried to fight the blush, looked Yang straight in the eyes and said: "It's you."

For a second Weiss was certain she could see how Yang's brain just stopped, only to quickly jump-start into action again by forcing out a little: "Huh?"

But what really relieved her was Ruby's reaction. She laughed. "You see, was that so hard?"

Weiss looked at Ruby in pure confusion. "Yeah, I mean, it's your sister!"

"So, what? Like I said, it's normal. Let me ask you, would you sleep with her?"

"Of course not!" How preposterous to even think that.

"That's exactly what I am talking about. Do you now see the difference between liking someone and just finding them hot?"

"I guess I never thought of that…"

Ruby gave her wife a little pad on the head (something the former heiress really loved) and returned to her food. Weiss did the same not shortly after. Yang…

Yang did not.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Ruby took a seat on their king-sized bed and patiently waited for Weiss to get something out of the suitcase she took home from work. She watched her naked frame moving with the elegance of a river, every movement seemed just for Ruby's eyes to enjoy, for her body to desire. Weiss absolutely loved the effect she still had on her wife, so she deliberately took her time in fetching the little (or big, depending on perception) device she got from her gynecologist on her way home earlier.

"Okay…", Weiss whispered, the nervousness evident in her voice. Stepping up to Ruby, hands holding a black box, she said: "This is it, our way to our own child." With that, she handed her the box, internally begging for her wife to open it herself so Weiss is saved from the embarrassment.

Ruby took the box, and much to her wife's frustration, decided to study it. The Box was almost as long as Ruby's forearm, painted in glossy black, felt very sturdy, and was surprisingly heavy. There were no images or descriptions anywhere, so the only thing left for her was to open the box. And what she saw inside it, surprised her. Inside was a long object made out of rubber, with a slightly bigger part in the middle, filled with what looks like some weird dust Ruby could not remember ever seeing. In the right light, she could make out a tiny arrow on the rubber, pointing to one end of it.

"That's a dildo", Ruby said, almost matter-of-fact.

Weiss took a seat next to Ruby. "My doctor explained to me how it works. You see, this arrow points towards…", her brain grasps at straws trying to find a word that would not sound too nasty, "the recipient, if you will. The dust in the middle is a conductor of sorts. It takes the… secretion of the… giver and leads it towards the end the arrow points to."

"So, in other words, the girl on this end", Ruby points towards the non-arrowed side, "impregnates the one on the other side."

Weiss nodded, her face beet red. "And… I thought about it almost constantly since we made our minds up…" Her hands fidgeted in her lap, "and I would be honored you would allow me to carry the child."

Ruby's heart almost pounded out of her chest, her eyes widened. "Are…are you serious?"

Again, Weiss nodded, her blue eyes looking deep into her wife's silver ones.

The dildo dropped to the carpeted floor as Ruby swung her arms around her wife and pushed her down on the bed in pure joy. "Weissy", she squealed, "you are the best wife in the world!"

Weiss giggled involuntarily. "I know, my little dolt."

For a minute the two just lay there, basking in the warmth of each other's naked bodies, until Weiss asked the life changing question: "Shall we begin?"

* * *

"How ya holdin' up?"

His coarse voice pulled Winter out of the book she was reading. She put it down next to the left-overs of the disgusting hospital food. "Pretty good, thank you."

Qrow closed the door with his foot, which earned him a fierce look by the Ice Queen. He ignored it. Like always. "Great. I brought you some food." He lifted the plastic bag in his right hand demonstratively. It looked like it could rip at any moment, loaded as it was.

"What brought that on?"

He reached into the bag, pulled out a wrapped hamburger and threw it on her bed. "I've been hospitalized enough times to know that, no matter where you are, the food in hospitals always tastes like shit."

Involuntarily, Winter glanced over to the plate, which was laying around on her nightstand for hours, as cold as it was disgusting. Without another word, she grabbed the burger and unwrapped it. She'd normally stay far away from junk food, but right now, the smell alone seems to her like the most delicious thing known to man.

"Easy there, snow tiger", Qrow said as he saw Winter almost gulp the entire burger down, "We don't want you to suffocate on beef, now, would we?"

After the burger was finished, and Winter let her tongue remember the taste for a few seconds more, she said the only appropriate thing in this situation: "Thank you."

Qrow waved it off. "Don't mention it, just doing my job."

"No, you aren't", Winter replied, earning a raised eyebrow from the old man, "your job is to guard me, not to feed me. So, again, thank you."

Qrow smiled slightly, but other than that, did not reply. He put the bag on her bed surprisingly carefully, Winter noticed. "There is more food and drinks in there. Knock yourself out."

Winter was surprised. Five bottles of mineral water, two of lemonade, three more burgers, a variety fruit and a package of sausages were in the bag. And some chocolate and sweets, further at the bottom of it. This could not have been cheap. And he bought all that for her? Wait a minute…

"What about you?", Winter asked suddenly.

"What about me?", he replied from the neighboring bed, letting his feet dangle a little bit.

"What are you eating, I mean."

"I had breakfast this morning, and I am going to eat when I go home."

"So, late in the evening, then", she concluded in a deadpan tone. This could not stand. Thankfully, Qrow had very good reflexes, thanks to his hunting experience, otherwise the burger Winter threw would have hit him in the face.

"Eat", she ordered.

That got a slight chuckle out of him. "Yes, ma'am."

Qrow was almost finished with his food, when he heard a little snicker coming from the bedridden woman. "What's so funny?"

Winter shook her head. "Nothing, just thinking about the fact that I'm going to be an aunt. It's still kinda surreal."

"You can say that again. Always expected you to be the one getting a child first."

"Really? What makes you say that?"

Qrow shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, I guess it's because you're the older one. More mature, down to earth."

"And working a job that makes it impossible to meat people, let alone have a child", Winter added crestfallen.

"You stop that", Qrow said as he popped the last bit of his burger into his mouth, "I don't want you do drown in your self-pity in addition to your injuries. That only leads to depression."

But Winter only gave him a sad look, showing him a completely new side of her he never really realized she could have. She looked hurt, much more emotionally than physically. Seems like behind the uniform and unflinching, stone cold and iron hard demeanor beats the heart of a woman. A neglected one at that.

Qrow sighed, and mentally scolded himself for what he was about to say. "Listen, Schnee." He paused for a second, and decided on a different approach, more fitting to the woman in front of him. Because right now she is not a soldier. Right now, she is… "Winter."

Her eyes widened a bit at this unexpected glimmer of intimacy.

"Believe me when I tell you that you are a beautiful, desirable woman with a lot more going for her than just the glitter on her uniform. You will find someone, trust me. Maybe not tomorrow, or next week. But it will happen. Only thing you can not do is lose hope. Got it?"

Winter was awestruck. Never in her life did she expect this old grump to deliver such a speech. But, was he not a little too optimistic? Winter practically only knows how to function in the army. She has no real social life, and no friends whatsoever. The only person she only really talks to outside of giving and receiving orders is her sister.

"Tell you what: As soon as you're out of those wrappers of yours I will take you out for dinner, how does that sound?"

Again, Winter did not know what to say. But she had to answer something. "That… that sounds good."

"Great", he said gently, his lips carrying a warm smile.

"Why are you doing that for me?"

Embarrassed, Qrow ruffled his hair and answered: "You remind me a lot of myself back then. I wasted a lot of time, lost a lot of what could have been deep friendships or even more, simply because I was too focused on my job. Guess I don't want you to suffer the same."

"Is that why you started drinking? To feel better?"

"No", he replied, "I drank to feel nothing."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Jesus… fucking… Christ…", Ruby breathed. She was laying next to Weiss, both sweaty, exhausted, but unbelievably satisfied and happy.

"You can say that again", the snow head laughed, "that was the best sex I ever had."

Ruby tried to agree, but her lung failed her, so she just nodded. "One… one thing is for certain." Her hand feels the carpet next to the bed in search for their toy. She found it and lifted it up so Weiss could see it. "We are so keeping this thing."

Weiss laughed, but internally agreed. As she turned to her side, she noticed just how… dank the sheets were. Well, seems that before the sleep, a shower and fresh sheets are in order.

* * *

"I bet the two are getting it on right now", Blake mentioned off-hand, pulling Yang mentally out of the playtime with Türkis on the floor of the living room.

"Don't be nasty." She tried to sound as disinterested as possible, and focus her attention back to the family play she and Türkis had going with her dolls.

Blake peeked over the newspaper she was reading. "Says you? Really?"

"Yeah. It's my sister you're talking about. I don't need that image in my head."

Behind the newspaper, Yang would have missed Blake's sly grin, even if she looked at her. She relaxed more into the sofa, changed the page of the newspaper, and said: "Bow chika wow wow."

She heard Yang inform their daughter that she will be right back, followed by approaching footsteps. Still, Blake acted like she did not hear any of that. So, Yang did the only thing appropriate in this situation: She jumped on the sofa, grabbed Blake by her sides and tickled her as hard as she could. The cat-faunus screamed and giggled, kicked out with her legs and begged her girlfriend to stop, but Yang was out for revenge. Unrelenting she kept going, ignoring her pleas and excuses. Blake tried to push her away, to fight her off, but Yang always was far stronger than her. Blake was completely exhausted and the newspaper a crumbled mess when the blonde finally stopped and got off of her, but before Yang could go back to Türkis Blake stopped her and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

* * *

The ordered specialist of the Atlesian army approached Ironwood's office with quick, steady steps. He must have heard him approaching, because as the soldier was about to knock, Ironwood yelled: "Enter!" With practiced fluidity the soldier opened the door and stepped up to the general's desk, handing him the folder he requested. "Sir, here are the reports about the attacks the PFV spearheaded since our arrival."

Ironwood quickly scanned the first page. "Thank you, you are dismissed."

The soldier saluted, turned around and left the office as fast as he entered it.

Immediately, Ironwood spread out the sheets of paper in the binder on his table, so he can easily scan over them. Each of them filled to the edges with words and photographs, describing every detail, no matter how unimportant it seemed. A report about bombs going off in restaurants, killing twelve people, wounding twenty-four. Another, about a hit-and-run into a crowded market place, killing four people and injuring seven. One report dealing with a massacre near a library, a man dressed in black combat gear opened fire on civilians with an assault rifle, killing thirty-seven, injuring fifty-eight. The reports go on and on like this. Every time the Public Freedom Vacuo committed to the attacks. But the weird thing is, that there are seemingly no connections between the targets. Their procedure was akin to someone throwing a dart at a map blindfolded. Anywhere, anytime, seemed to be their modus operandi. Men, women, children. Human, Faunus. It did not seem to matter. But Ironwood knew better. There is a connection, they just have not found it yet. But, by everything that's holy in this world, he will.

* * *

"Anything in the news I should know about?"

Qrow peeked over his magazine and replied: "You should rest, not know."

"Come on", Winter wined, sounding almost like a little child getting scolded, "I'm going crazy here, goddammit!"

"You realize", Qrow begun, setting his magazine aside, "that they keep you out of the loop on purpose, right? Because the second you hear some shit going down you'll try to do something about it."

"Are you really trying to make me feel bad for wanting to make the world a better place?"

"If it would destroy you in the process, yes, I am."

Winter almost insulted him again, but decided not to. After all, nothing of this was his fault. He was just doing his job and looked after her, and she used him simply to vent her frustrations.

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?", Qrow replied, a concerned look on his face.

"For being such a bother. I know you're just trying to help me, and all I do is insult you or give you crap."

Carefully, he rose from his chair by the window and stepped up to her bed. "Hey, that's not true."

"It is. You're wasting your time with me when you could do anything else! How long have I been in here, anyway?"

"Two weeks", Qrow answered with a gentle smile.

"Two weeks? Just two shitty weeks? I am supposed to stay two months in here!" Winter's voice began to crack, her ice blue eyes carrying a light watery glint.

As if a higher being observed the two, Qrow's scroll started to ring. As he recognized the number, a smile spread on his face. "Hello?"

"Hey, Qrow." It was Weiss. "Can I talk to Winter?"

He risked a quick glance over to her, and replied with an even bigger smile: "Oh, absolutely." He handed Winter the scroll. "It's your sister."

Winter quickly cleared her throat and wiped a stray tear from her face. "Hello, Weiss?", she asked with a practiced calm. Qrow had to admit, he was amazed by her ability to change moods like they were just some switches on a console.

* * *

Weiss woke up with the worst case of heart burn she ever felt. Honestly, she has not had a lot of them, but this one… oh, boy. She seriously tried to remember if she drank lighter fuel or gasoline yesterday. But no, she did not. And she felt tired, so unbelievably tired. A silent groan escaped her, and she tried to turn around to go back to sleep, but this movement proved to be too much for her upset stomach.

Ruby was almost finished with breakfast, the eggs and beacon fried to perfection. She quickly checked the clock above the kitchen door. 8:30am. Time to wake up her wife. With a little hum she walked to the bedroom door, raised her hand to knock… and was quickly pushed aside by a pale Weiss rushing out of it into the bathroom.

"Weiss? You okay?"

She got no answer, only a slam of the door. The only real reply she got was belching and puking sounds coming from the toilet. Carefully, she knocked. "Honey, is everything alright?"

Again, no answer, just wet, guttural belching, paired with the sound of stomach acid and undigested food hitting the toilet bowl. So, despite her worry, Ruby decided to finish cooking her food.

After a while, Weiss stopped throwing up. Most likely not because she necessarily felt better, but because her stomach was pretty much empty now. Still, it took her around ten minutes, and Ruby finishing her breakfast, until she finally stepped out of the bath room.

"Are you feeling better now?"

"Yeah, lots, actually." She handed her wife a small stripe.

The confusion on her face was evident. She held the stripe towards the light, turned it around, flipped it upside down. "Okay, what's that?"

Weiss rolled her eyes with a slight smile. Has she honestly never seen one of those? "It's a pregnancy test, Ruby. You see those two pink bars?"

Ruby nodded, still slightly confused.

"The left one appeared when I peed on it."

And just like that, and with a screech from the redhead, the stripe flew into the sink. But then, it dawned on her: "Wait, does that mean…"

Weiss bit her lower lip with an excited grin. That was answer enough. Ruby face lit up like the sun as she jumped out of the chair and into her wife's arms.

"WE DID IT!"

Weiss giggled as she reciprocated the hug.

"We have to tell everybody!" And with that, Ruby was already on her way to the phone hanging in the hallway.

But Weiss quickly stepped up to her. "Wait, honey. Do you mind if I call Winter first?"

Ruby had already dialed two digits of Taiyang's number, but why not? She understood why it was so important to her wife, considering Winter was the only one in her family still alive she had any connection to. So, Ruby hung up, picked the receiver back up and dialed Qrow's number, not knowing Winter's. "I called my uncle, he should be with her."

* * *

The tears she wiped a few seconds ago now flowed freely over her face, as she heard the amazing news from her sister. Qrow, sitting on the neighboring bed, had a lopsided smile on his face, having a pretty good idea what the call was about.

"How are you feeling", Winter choked out.

A slight chuckle came from the other end of the line. "Winter, calm down. I'm fine, just a little nauseous and tired."

"I hope you'll take the day off from work", the older sister said, in an almost chiding tone.

Again, a laugh, but this time accompanied by a second, smaller one. Ruby was listening in. "Oh, don't worry, I will take a few days off. Even if I wanted to work, Ruby would not let me."

"She's right", Ruby added from further back.

"Anyway, I hope you're doing well as well. How is the healing coming along?"

Winter sighed. "Could be faster. I would be going insane is Qrow wasn't here, honestly."

A short moment of silent, then: "He is keeping your mood up, then?"

"I guess so. I grew kinda accustomed to it."

"That sounds great." The smile was obvious in her voice. "Anyway, just wanted to tell you the news. I gotta go now, Ruby will want to talk to her dad and sister about it."

"Oh, sure. Again, I am so happy for you two. Best of luck in everything."

"Thank you, Winter, that means a lot to us." She was about to say her goodbyes, but then: "Oh, and Winter?"

"Yes?"

"Strike the iron while it's hot."

Before Winter could ask what she meant by that, the dialing tone sounded.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Qrow steered his Toyota Tacoma into the driveway of a little house on the outskirts of the city. It was a quiet place, the house looking inviting on the outside, and from what Winter could see from the big windows of it, comfortable on the inside. The façade was painted in a warm yellow, only increasing the feeling of warmth and welcome.

"Well, here we are." He pulled the parking brake and stopped the engine.

"This is your house?", Winter asked confused from the backseat. She was sitting behind the passenger seat; her body angled a bit so she could rest her incased leg on the seat.

Qrow turned around with a smug grin on his face. "Surprised?"

"Maybe a little bit", she admitted. "But you surprised me a lot the last months."

"Positively, I hope."

"For the most part." She was trying to sound matter-of-fact, but her voice betrayed her with a little giggle.

Qrow was far less secretive, and simply laughed.

He helped her out of the car and to the door. A swift movement of his right hand, and it opened, a small entryway greeting them. Qrow stepped aside and waited for Winter to enter first.

"The living room is to the right."

"Thank you."

And what a living room it was. It was small, but incredibly appealing. The second she stepped into it, the atmosphere lulled her into a cozy blanket she never wanted to come out of. The black armchair and sofa surrounding the cream-colored table harmonized almost too perfectly with the oaken wood paneling covering the walls. Winter caught herself believing that she should not be in this room, lest her presence alone threatened to destroy the idyll in front of her. But alas, her right arm tired out from having to support her weight on the crutch. At least she now knew that the sofa felt as comfortable as it looked. But she had no time to relax, goddammit! With a click of the remote, which lay on the table, she turned on the TV rested on a wooden stand in a corner of the room and searched for a channel broadcasting the news.

"Can't relax for a second, can you?"

She looked over to the door to see Qrow stand there, arms crossed, a small smirk on his lips.

"I just want to see what's going on in the world."

He could have given her a lecture now. Could. But he decided not to. His sigh was bringing his point across just as well. And honestly, the roads inside her head guiding her thoughts must all be one-way, because God help if one ever tried to make her reconsider anything. Qrow could not for the life of him say for certain that he ever met another person as bullheaded as the Schnee woman.

His train of thought was cut short by the news anchor on TV: "…killed today, when a woman, standing in front of the stage he held his speech on, ignited explosives investigators assume were strapped to her body. Ambulances and police are on scene, and…"

"That looks bad", Qrow said, eyes glued to the screen, as he took a seat next to Winter. He quickly pulled out his scroll to check the web for the name of the person who was speaking on stage, most likely the target of the attack. "Cobalt Winsor. Does the name ring any bells for you?"

Winter stole a quick glance to the picture of an old bearded man on Qrow's scroll. She tried to remember if she ever saw that face, but came up emptyhanded and shook her head.

"Guess we have to wait, then. I hope James does not take too long."

"I don't understand one thing: At first they only targeted politicians and wanted money, but the last few weeks they attacked civilians."

"Maybe they're becoming desperate? The government of Vacou did not agree to any of their demands, so they most likely now trying to send a message. That Atlas' military is meddling in what they most likely consider their affairs probably enrages them further."

"Hence the attack a few months back", Winter concluded.

A silent nod. Winter could see how much in thought he was. So, she said: "But you don't believe it." It was not a question. It was a statement. He _knew_ it wasn't so easy.

The sigh escaping his lips was loaded with discontent. "It's just way too simple, you know? Where is the motive? What do they want?"

"What does the internet say about this Winsor? Maybe we find something there."

With swift movements, his fingers danced over the screen of his scroll. Nothing the web spit out seemed helpful: Cobalt Winsor was born in Atlas, enjoyed a good education, and got a good job at a real-estate agent, and quickly climbed the ranks. Later, he build multiple houses and apartments, first in his home country, later all over Remnant, in several price ranges. This man almost singlehandedly reduced the homelessness rate of all countries by at least a third, simply by making the domiciles affordable. So, all in all, he was an upstanding man, a philanthropist. Why would anyone try to kill him?

* * *

"Seriously, she is driving me up the wall."

"Come on, it can't be that bad." A slight giggle in the middle of that sentence.

"Can it? You wanna come over and see for yourself?"

"Sure." A shrug. "After we are done here."

Currently, Ruby, Yang and Blake were shopping, the tittle speedster Türkis in tow, for clothes. Blake herself showed surprise at how often a child with overbubbling energy shreds a pullover or pants. At first, at least. After a few years, she expects her to come home from playing with her friends dirtied, scratched up and with a few new holes in her clothes.

The raven-haired woman spoke: "I would be okay with it. Haven't seen her in a while." She threw a bundle of pants in Yang's outstretched arms, already so loaded with clothes that she had to walk sideways to see where she was going.

"Okay", Ruby sighed, "but don't say I did not warn you. She is _weird_."

"She is pregnant, Rubes. Mood swings are normal."

"If it was only that! Yang, two days ago she ate vanilla ice-cream with pickles and hot sauce!"

Yang's burst of laughter drew a few concerned gazes from the surrounding costumers. "Okay, now we absolutely have to visit!"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Aunt Wiss!"

Quickly, Weiss scooped Türkis up, a big grin on her face. "Hey there, little one. How's it going?" She then turned to the three women in the hallway of the Rose house. "What gives me the honor of your visit?"

Blake chuckled slightly. "We just wanted to know how you are holding up." She approached Weiss and gave her a light hug, careful not to make her drop the fox faunus clinging to her neck.

"Well, pretty good. A little bit moody and tired, though. So, please, if I seem to act weird…"

"Don't worry about it, Weissberg", Yang interrupted, "It's the hormones. We understand."

Türkis looked between her blonde mother and Weiss, trying to understand what they talked about. "Aunt Wiss, are you sick?"

Weiss could not hold the small laugh escaping her as she saw the worry in those big brown eyes. She shook her head. "No, I'm fine. But thank you for your concern, Türkis." She gave her a kiss on those rosy chubby cheeks.

Blake and Yang looked at each other with confusion plastered over their faces.

"Oh, great idea", Weiss sing-sang, "How about you all stay over for dinner? It's been a while."

"Can we have fish sticks?", the little Faunus begged with sparkling eyes.

The snow head rubbed her nose against Türkis', earning a laugh, and said in a baby voice: "Of course we can, you little wittle puff of joy, you."

Carefully, every step calculated and eyes fixated on the pregnant woman, Yang stepped closer to Ruby and said: "I'm scared."

"She is like this all the time", Ruby whispered, as if she was scared that too loud of a sound would alarm Weiss of her presence and shower her with honestly annoying amounts of affection.

"Do you have that here or do we have to go get the food?" Blake might have sounded calm, but Yang knew her well enough to know that she was just as disturbed by Weiss as her.

"Nope", the snow-head replied way too chipper.

"Um, 'nope', what", Ruby asked confused. And slightly disturbed.

"We don't have it here, my silly pumpkin."

Yang snorted, but controlled herself enough to not burst out laughing. Who knows how Ruby's wife would react to that. "Well, then, how about the pumpkin and me go and buy them real quick?"

"It's 'and I', Yang", Blake deadpanned.

A quick wave of her prosthetic hand, as if her words were writings on a board. "Whatever, you know I don't understand when to say 'I' and when 'me'."

"Oh, that's easy, Yangy", Weiss stated, as she let Türkis back to the ground, "when you ask 'who', it is 'I', when you ask 'whom', it is 'me'. So, who is going shopping? Ruby and I. Easy, isn't it?" A weirdly eerie smile spread across her lips.

A delicate eyebrow arched on the raven-haired Faunus. "Yangy?"

"Okay", Yang replied, every muscle tense, like a spring waiting to bounce out of this situation. She grabbed Ruby's arm and pulled her out of the house without so much as a goodbye.

The fresh air hitting them felt like a wave washing the tension away, and Yang felt like she could finally breathe again. "Man, that was fucking nuts", she said, glancing back to the front door, actually a little scared of the possibility of Weiss following them.

Ruby nodded so fast, that her shoulder long hair flew into her face. "Are you sure you wanna leave your girlfriend and daughter in there with her", she joked. At least she told herself it was a joke.

Yang's laugh sounded a little forced as well. "Blake'll be fine, she is a trained huntress."

"Yeah, but so is Weiss."

Yang stayed silent.

(Line break)

"Thank you", Blake said as she grabbed the tea Weiss prepared for her. Türkis was sitting on the floor, flipping through one of Weiss' fashion magazines she liked so much. Blake was silent for a moment, internally struggling with how to approach the subject of the former heiress's euphoric attitude. Finally, she decided to just face the problem head-on: "Say, Weiss?"

She hummed, while taking a sip from her own tea.

"Please don't get the wrong idea, but you are surprisingly happy. Almost euphorically so."

Gently, Weiss placed the cup of tea back on the kitchen table. "Ruby said the same thing a few days ago. Am I not allowed to be happy?"

"I never said that. I was just confused, as I always knew you as the collected type, you know? Never one to let her emotions get the better of her."

"I am just happy, you know?" She gently put a hand on her abdomen. "I always wanted my own family, and now, finally, it is becoming a reality. I can give my child the love and care I got refused. And I can do it with the person I love the most in the entire world." Her eyes started to sting, and before she knew it, the first tears fell onto her lap. With cat-like reflexes Blake stood up and wrapped her arms around Weiss.

"Hey, hey, I'm sorry. I did not mean to make you cry."

"I… I don't even know why I am crying", Weiss sobbed.

"It's the hormones, don't worry about it."

They stayed like this for a while, Weiss crying hot tears into Blake's shoulder. After a minute, she calmed down, and Blake thought it to be a good moment to change the subject: "So, when are you going back to work?"

Weiss wiped a loose tear from her cheek. "In a month. You know I can't stay away from work too much."

"Seriously?" A delicate eyebrow raised on the faunus' face. "I always assumed a company like yours has a lot of chairmen to take over when you are… indisposed, so to speak."

"That's true. And that's not how I meant it. It's not that the company will collapse because I am not there. It's that I don't know what to do with myself when I don't work."

"A workaholic, huh? Yeah, you strike me as one", Blake replied with a slight smile on her face. "But keep in mind that you can't push yourself as much as you are used to, now that you're pregnant. You'll have to learn to take it easy."

A sigh. "I hope I can do that."

"You'll have no other choice if you don't want to put yourself or the child in danger." For a moment, Blake contemplated a question. A risky one, because she was not sure how Weiss would interpret it, especially now, in her state of hormonal turmoil. She decided to risk it. "So, I reckon you don't really have hobbies then?"

For a fraction of a second, Weiss' eyes narrowed. It seemed to happen involuntarily, because her face softened just as quick. Internally, Blake sighed relieved. "You… you are correct. I just don't know what to do with myself without work. I mean, when I come home I listen to music or read a book, and when Ruby is home we cuddle or talk. But I don't really _do_ stuff."

A slight smile spread over Blake's face. Helping Weiss find a hobby sounds right down her alley.

Yang felt like she is going crazy. Being a passenger while Ruby drove was a test in physical torture. Especially when she had control over the radio, as it was the case right now. How in the nine circles of Hell can something like this be considered music? It sounds more like a guy escaped a mental asylum and is now raping a steel drum with a jackhammer. Every single one of the 115 beats per minute seemed to blow her eardrums apart and worm their way straight into her brain, jumping around in her skull. She turned the volume knob all the way down to zero, afraid of her brain leaking out through her nose. The silence following was almost unnaturally comforting.

"Hey", Ruby protested, "why did you turn that off? That was my favorite!"

"Honestly, Ruby, I love you, but this electronic excretion you call music is making me ill. Don't you have something… I don't know, with melody?"

"Ha, ha", Ruby retorted, "you just don't understand how much work and effort went into making this kind of music." She turned the song back up, but not as loud as before, as to nor drown out their voices.

"How much effort someone put into something is not indicative of the quality of the work."

"Yeah, yeah. We arrived, by the way."

Ruby steered her car into the parking lot of the super market. It was big enough to hold 4500 cars, according to the sign they passed as Ruby entered. Yang was taken aback by the sheer magnitude of this place. The market itself was just as big, towering in the horizon like a monument, the wide exterior reminiscent of walls of a castle belonging to a king.

"It's impressive, isn't it?", Ruby said. She must have noticed Yang staring.

Yang just kept staring, even when Ruby pulled her car into one of the few empty parking spots. It was a rather amusing sight, Ruby thought, as she remembered her first time seeing the building, shortly after she moved together with Weiss into their house. She must have had the same look on her face.

The interior was even more massive, as if it ignored every conceivable law of physics. The ceiling was at least 10 meters high, with huge signs pointing the desiring costumer to every consumable imaginable, and even some unimaginable. Shelves filled to the brim, almost threatened to burst, people running to and fro, a wall of noise hitting anyone in the face who dared to enter this Taj Mahal of greed and capitalism.

"How the fuck do you find anything in this place?", Yang yelled, as if she was scared that the sheer magnitude of the building would swallow her voice, and, to an extent, her entire being.

Ruby threw Yang a smug grin. "Stay close, little one, we don't want you to get lost."

Ruby knew the place, maybe not like the back of her hand, because that would mean she had pretty big hands. She doesn't. But she knew the place well enough for them to get the fish sticks in a little over five minutes. And most of the time was just wasted walking to the corresponding isle. They assumed, almost hoped, to be out of this place quickly, when Ruby's scroll rang.

"Hello", she answered.

For a few seconds she stayed silent, listening to the person on the other end of the line. Yang watched intently, as if trying to decipher what her colloquist was saying simply by Ruby's reactions. After a few "yes" and "uhu"s she ended the call without any form of goodbye.

"Who was that?"

"Weiss", Ruby sighed. "She asked me to bring her a watermelon and gummy bears."

"I did not know she likes watermelons."

"She doesn't."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"I gotta say, I am impressed", the doctor said after he intricately studied the x-ray images on his computer. "Your aura healed the bones and tissues much quicker than we anticipated. Good genes, I'd say."

"So, I assume that means she does not need the bandages and crutch anymore", Qrow replied, sending Winter a quick, reassuring smile.

"I don't see a reason why she would", the doctor answered, pushing his glasses back up his nose.

With a loud sigh, Winter shifted back on the hospital bed. "Thank God. You can't imagine how itchy it can get under there."

The laugh escaping Qrow was as gleeful as it was knowing. "Oh, trust me, I can imagine. Because I know."

He got a crooked, sardonic grin as answer.

"Oh, by the way", he began, burying his hand into the left pocket of his pants. He pulled out something and handed it to her. When Winter recognized the item, she could not help but blush a little. She quickly grabbed her razor.

"Why do you have that?"

"Your leg was in a cast for weeks. I thought you might wanted to make yourself presentable before leaving the hospital."

Winter was stunned. He said it without any mockery, without any mischievous grin on his stubbled face. And the way he looked at her made Winter feel guilty for assuming he meant it in any way besides genuine. True, in the last few weeks she got to know him a lot better than she ever thought she would, and she knows that he is a nice guy, but still, for some reason, the mistrust is still there. Maybe it's because of her childhood, maybe because of her field of work.

Wait. Nice guy? Did she really just think that?

Qrow cleared his throat, pulling Winter out of her thoughts, making her realize she just stared at him the entire time. "Th-thank you. That's very… considerate of you." May the earth open up and swallow her whole.

Winter spend a little longer than she needed in the bathroom, mostly to sort out her thoughts. Her leg was free of the cast and hair, smooth as silk, just the way she liked it. But she could not really feel glad about either of that. Her mind wandered back to the weeks she spent with Qrow. A weird feeling of content washed over her. She remembered sleeping well the last nights, better than she ever did. And just the thought of going back to Vacuo sent a pang of… some feeling through her. One she could not quite grasp, for it was way too foreign to her.

The knocking on the door pulled her out of her thoughts by the throat, it felt like.

"You okay in there", Qrow's voice sounded from the other side.

Winter hastily put her razor away into a pocket of her designer jacket. "Yes, don't worry."

"Good. I thought maybe you fell into the toilet or something."

Winter just laughed at that absurd idea. And then watched her reflection in the mirror intently. That joke was funny. To her. A joke by Qrow. What is wrong with her? Every other day she would give him a piece of her mind. She really had to think about it. But not now, not when Qrow was waiting outside.

"So, I hope you're hungry", he said as Winter left the bathroom.

"Why? What do you mean?"

"I promised to invite you to dinner when your leg was healed, remember?"

The honest answer would be 'no'. She really does not remember. But for whatever reason she did not want to tell him she forgot. Why? Because she does not want to disappoint him? Because she does not want to hurt him? Instead she answered: "Oh, sure. What did you have in mind?"

* * *

The restaurant he drove her to was high-class, four stars at least, she reckoned by the beautiful interior, gentle atmosphere and well-dressed guests. The longer she stood there, waiting for the receptionist to deal with the guests before them in line, the more she felt underdressed. Qrow told her to dress nice, but she assumed he would choose a small bar or something similar, and dressed accordingly, in an almost too casual pair of black jeans, an ice-blue pullover and a brown leather jacket. Nothing even remotely fitting to this type of eatery. Qrow himself looked great, she had to admit, but just like her not dressed for the occasion. Plain suit pants, brown in color, with a short-sleeved shirt. Again, he looked good. Kempt, clean-shaven. The style really suited him, but still, for this establishment? Way too underdressed.

The receptionist waved them over, and as Qrow approached him, with Winter following him, she noticed a dazzling smell coming from his direction. Her hypophysis screamed in thousand different languages to each of her six hundred muscles to step up to him and take a deep breath in. Luckily Winter was a master of self-control, even with her mind going in all kinds of more or less appropriate directions. She hoped to all the possible Divines that what she smelled was just Qrow's perfume or aftershave, and not his natural smell, mostly because she was not sure if she would be able to keep her cool, should she be forced to smell this odor every day.

"Guten Tag, die Herrschaften. Wie darf ich Ihnen behilflich sein?", the man asked the two.

For a second or two Winter caught herself feeling confusion upon hearing her native language. Everyone around her has been speaking Valian so much, she grew accustomed to it.

Qrow nodded quickly to acknowledge the man's greeting, and answered: "Ich hatte einen Tisch für zwei reserviert. Auf den Namen Qrow."

Winter almost swallowed her tongue, so hard did she gasp. "I did not know you speak Atlesian."

Qrow shrugged, but not without sending a smug grin her way. "You never asked."

That was true. For some reason it never crossed her mind that he was versed in this regard. But why wouldn't he have been? He worked with General Ironwood, _and_ he lived in Atlas.

The receptionist scanned through his list of reservations, and apparently found the name, as he then nodded, smiled and said: "Wenn die Herrschaften mir bitte folgen mögen", before leading them to the reserved table.

Winter felt even more out of place with every step she took towards it. As she took her seat, she was sure at least fifteen pairs of eyes stared at her.

"Relax, will you? You look great."

"You think so? I feel like I look like a beggar next to all those fancy suits and dresses."

Qrow nodded towards the waiter presenting the wine and waited for him to finish filling their glasses, before continuing: "I can insure you, you look absolutely fine. I never was a fan of this fancy stuff anyway."

A snowy eyebrow raised on the soldier's head. "Then why did you invite me to this place?"

"I thought you might like it. You always struck me as a woman of…", he paused for a moment, thinking of a word that wouldn't insult her, "higher tastes. And besides, the owner still owes me one. I protected his assets from an attack by the White Fang back in the day."

"So, in other words, I appear arrogant", Winter said gloomy.

Qrow threw her a shocked expression and quickly tried to argue: "No, no, that's not what I meant."

"Yes, it was", she replied, "But I can't blame you. You are right."

He caught himself trying to grab Winter's hand, which rested on the table, and quickly pulled back. He hoped she did not notice. "Listen. True, you can be rather difficult to approach, but I am pretty sure that's because of the uniform, not yourself. And honesty, I am just as much at fault here. How many times did I tease you or tried to piss you off, simply because I thought it would be funny? How could anyone be casual and happy after that?"

"But you had a reason for that. Don't sugarcoat it, please. The reason why you gave me a hard time was not because of the uniform. General Ironwood wears one, and you never gave him anything close to sass."

Qrow shook his head. She was right in assuming that he had no problem with the atlesian uniform, but it was not her demeanor that drove him to fight her whenever they crossed paths. "It was your name."

"My name?" Winter blinked in confusion, as she took a sip from her wine.

"Can I talk freely?"

"Of course."

"I hated your father like the plague."

Winter could not hold back a light giggle. What else is new, she thought to herself. Was there a person who really liked him? She was sure even her brother did nowadays. Okay, maybe not sure. She hoped.

"And you just happened to carry his name. For the same reason I was not fond of Weiss. But I got over that when she and Ruby came together and I got to know her better." He shook his head and rephrased: "No, when I got to know her, period. And I guess that is the same with you. I have that bad habit of judging people way too quickly."

Winter's smile was light, as she answered: "Prejudice is ignorance, and ignorance is the root of hate. The name was my mother's, not his. He married into the family."

Qrow picked up on her choice of words. "Was?"

Winter's expression turned melancholic. "She died a long time ago. Alcohol."

Involuntarily, his gaze shifted to their glasses. "I'm sorry, I had no idea."

"Don't be. Jacques wasn't, either."

Again, he picked up on how she used his name, not 'dad' or 'father'. "Wow, that sounds horrible."

A humorless chuckle came from Winter's guts, filled with despise. "I hope he rots in Hell, that bastard", she said quietly, as to not draw any unwanted looks.

The waiter approached the two and asked them for their order. They both chose their respective dinner, Qrow having to ask one or two times to make sure he understood what the names meant. When the waiter excused himself and took the menus with him, Qrow continued the conversation: "You never told me about your family. Why now?"

Winter sighed. "I never told anyone. I don't rightly know why I told you. I have a lot going on in my mind that I don't quite understand, the last few days."

Concern was written in his eyes. Those strangely magnetic, red eyes. "I hope everything is alright. Just say the word and I drive you back to the hospital."

Winter had to stop herself from sighing in content. How can one guy be so understanding, so considerate? And what is wrong with her? Why does everything he does or say or _doesn't_ do seem to resonate with her? A few months ago she hated his guts, felt her hair stand on end simply by thinking about him. Now? Now remembering how she thought about him back then has a similar effect. It was absurd. She laughed about his jokes. She did not get offended when he insulted Jacques. Sure, she could not stand him, but he was still family. And no one insults her family without feeling the sharp end of her saber. No one, except Qrow, apparently. Seriously, if she would not know any better, she'd say she behaved like a school girl in lo…

Oh, fuck.

Her entire world stopped. On the spot, before going two hundred miles an hour. And the whiplash hit her in the face like an ice shower. No, it couldn't be. She? In love with _him_? Absurd. Absolutely impossible! Or was it? Yes, yes, it was! Why should she? What has he done to deserve her sympathies? Well, a lot. But still. She was Winter Schnee! And as such, a high-class woman. Yes, a woman. With desires and needs. Okay, this really did not help. The more she tried to convince herself she is not in love, the fewer ways to convince her came to mind. And the more she thought about her feelings, the more at ease she felt.

Winter quickly emptied her glass with a few strong gulps, surprising Qrow and even a few other guests.

"Hey, hey! That's wine, not water. What's gotten into you?"

Louder than she wanted, she slammed her now empty glass back onto the table. "Where is the damn food?"

Gently, carefully, Qrow grabbed her clenched fist, resting on the table. "Winter, are you okay?" His voice and his face show genuine concern.

The moment his hand touched hers, she relaxed. Her fist opened up, her breathing relaxed. She became aware of how she behaved, and felt embarrassed, her face taking in a slight shade of red. "I… I'm sorry."

"What's wrong, Winter?"

And with that, her nervousness came back. Her eyes skipped around, looking everywhere except at Qrow, her hands became damp, her foot tapping uncontrollably. She did not want to tell him, she really did not, but this feeling was eating her up. Her mind fought with itself, telling her to do it and in the same voice not to. She opened her mouth a few times, but nothing came out. She was a trained soldier, she fought battles, killed, got hurt, send soldiers to kill or get killed, and sharing her feelings is what makes her lose her cool? Goddamn it, she was 28 years old, not 8!

She took a deep breath, steeling her nerves. "Okay…", she whispered, trying to encourage herself. Here goes nothing. "I… you remember that we always had our differences, right? Well, the last few weeks made me realize that we may not be so different after all. The more I knew about you, the more I tolerated you. And this tolerance turned to like, and finally…" Again, her voice failed her.

Qrow grabbed her hand tighter, encouraging her to keep going. Judging by his agape mouth and big eyes, he knew what was coming. Or had at least an idea.

Winter, scared of his reaction, closed her eyes, as she breathed out: "I'm in love with you."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"We're back", Yang yelled into the house, a bag in each hand, loaded with groceries.

The first one to be at the door to greet her was Türkis. And by greet, she apparently understood clinging to her leg, like a sloth to a branch. "Did you bring the fish sticks?"

"Did you bring my stuff?", Ruby's wife yelled from the kitchen.

Ruby, taking the bags off of Yang, so she can deal with the little faunus sticking to her like a teddy bear cholla, answered: "Of course."

She placed the bags on the kitchen counter next to Weiss and Blake, and presented her both a huge, juicy watermelon and a pack of gummy bears.

"Only one pack?", Weiss asked dejected.

"You didn't tell me how many you wanted, so I assumed one."

As Weiss grabbed both items, Blake rummaged in the bags in search for the fish sticks and put them in the freezer.

"Aw", Türkis wined on Yang's arms, "I want them now."

"No dice, my little Rita, dinner is in a few hours. We can watch cartoons until then, okay?"

Türkis nodded at Yang's proposal, and the two went into the living room.

In the meantime, Weiss had cut the watermelon into little triangles, ripped the pack of gummy bears open haphazardly and now prepared a small bowl of… ketchup? Ruby and Blake could only look on in awe as she took her seat, grabbed one of the pieces of melon and dipped it into the bowl, to then eat it with obvious relish in her eyes. Her chewing slowed as she noticed the two women stare, her ice-blue orbs darting between them. "What?"

"Do I have to say 'Yuck' and 'Gross' now, or does that go without saying?", the faunus asked.

A red, ketchup covered tongue was her reply, as Blake left the kitchen with a smug grin.

She joined her girlfriend and daughter in the living room. Yang was sitting on the sofa with Türkis in her lap, mesmerized by the technicolored anthropomorphic animals on screen. Both of them, not just Türkis.

"What are you guys watching", Blake asked. Yang quickly shot up her hand to signal her to be quiet.

"The pig just took a slice of pie from his brother without asking. He is about to find out", she whispered, as to not drown out the dialogue with her own voice.

Blake almost snorted. Almost. She controlled herself. At least she told herself that, as she turned her head away from the two and bit her tongue to avoid exploding with laughter.

* * *

"So", Ruby struggled down her urge to gag, "you feeling okay? I mean, you are just sitting in the house most of the time. I know how much of a workaholic you are."

Weiss, her mouth stuffed with gummy bears, replied: "Sure, I'm pheephing phine."

She giggled and gave the show-head a kiss on her cheek. "Just tell me when something is troubling you, okay? The last thing I want is you getting bored out of your mind."

"She won't", came the voice of the raven haired faunus from the kitchen door, "I'll make sure of that."

"What do you mean?"

As she pulled out a plastic cup from one of the cupboards on the large kitchen wall, Blake replied: "We talked about finding a hobby for her, something she can do when she is home alone."

"Hey, that's a great idea. Anything in particular?"

Blake shrugged, the cup filled with orange juice almost spilling. "We haven't reached that point yet. If you want, Weiss, I can come over tomorrow, and we walk around Atlas, see what we can find."

"That sounds good. I can get out the house that way", Weiss replied, "how about at noon?"

Blake thought for a second, before nodding. "Yeah, 12pm sounds good. I'll come over then."

"Mommy", Türkis yelled from the living room. Blake, getting reminded of why she was holding the cup, walked back to joined her family.

"Don't worry, I got your juice."

* * *

In the evening, Yang insisted to take care of the dinner. She loved to cook, especially for her family. A trait she carried since the half-sisters' childhoods, when Raven disappeared, Summer died and Taiyang was busy with work to make enough money to afford the food Yang prepared every day. And now, with a family of her own, of course she wants to offer a healthy meal to her child and girlfriend.

The mashed potatoes and fish sticks on their plates, Türkis' ones a little more brown than the others (she like them this way), Yang took a seat next to her daughter, Blake sitting on the faunus' other site. Weiss and Ruby sat opposite them. A few little giggles escaped Weiss as she watched the little child trying to cut up the fish sticks with her fork, to then stab it with it and shove into her tiny mouth. Of course, she made a little mess with the mashed potatoes still stuck to her fork landing on her cheek.

"Oh, Türkis. Please be careful", Yang sighed, took a napkin and wiped her face.

The little faunus grumbled on account of the disturbance of her meal time, as Weiss just had the biggest grin on her face. "She is so adorable", she cooed.

"A little grubby kid is what she is", Yang laughed. Then her vision wandered towards Blake, and she burst out laughing. If she did not know better, she could have sworn Türkis took after her in behavior. The raven-haired Faunus had breadcrumbs and pieces of fish over her face, blushing madly as the other women looked at her with mixes of concern and glee.

The dinner went well. Relaxing, filling and overall exhilarating, filled with interesting and light conversation. Blake and Yang stayed in the kitchen with Weiss, taking care of the dishes while discussing their lives and futures. The bumblebee duo explained her what will most likely come up with her child, the things she has to look out for and can look forward to. Ruby was playing "that weird videogame with that orange mutant", as Weiss called it, in the living room, with Türkis on her lap, eyes fixated on the funny characters and bright colors.

After the dishes were cleaned, the three joined Ruby and Türkis. Yang joined in on the game, taking the controller from Ruby whenever she died, and helped Türkis control the game herself, by showing her how to hold the controller and what buttons do what. Blake and Weiss were sunk into their won conversation, talking about the day ahead, now having a plan that continued to grow with every sentence and took a nice, even shape, with both sides adding to the array of ideas.

After a while, Türkis fell asleep in Ruby's lap. That was Yang's and Blake's signal to go home. So, the brawler carefully picked her daughter up, as to not wake her. They said their goodbyes, and Weiss and Ruby watched from the door how they sat Türkis into Blake's station wagon and drive away. The two waved after them as the dark-green car disappeared into the horizon.

 **AN: Who can name the reference Yang made? And what game were they playing? Hint: Yang played it in a previous chapter.**

 **And a quick heads-up: The next chapter will deal with some very heavy and dark stuff. Reader's discretion is advised.**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

 **AN: Again, a warning: This chapter contains some dark material. Keep that in mind!**

The ringing of the telephone pulled Weiss violently out of her sleep. She murmured, pulled herself up and quickly gazed towards her alarm clock. 7:43 in the morning. Whoever dared to interrupt her beauty sleep will learn to fear the wrath of Weiss Rose!

Grumpy, she pulled the receiver to her ear, stretching the cord dangerously. "Yeah?", she snapped.

"Weiss, is that you?"

Hearing the voice on the other end woke her up like an ice bucket to the face. "Winter? What's up?"

The Schnee sister sighed on the other end. "I'm sorry for calling so early, but I needed to talk."

"Don't worry about it, Winter. What's wrong?"

"I messed up."

Weiss blinked confused. "What do you mean?" A pair of arms wrapped around her waist. It was Ruby. The phone must have woken her up, too. She rested her head on Weiss' shoulder, listening in on the conversation.

"I… I confessed to him", Winter continued.

"Wait, I don't understand. Isn't that a good thing?"

"You should have seen his face, Weiss. He… when I told him, he looked… devastated." A quiet sob could be heard. "And… and I haven't seen him since. He told me I could stay at his house, and just left."

Weiss could feel her heart constrict. And Ruby's grip around her tighten. The snow-head turned to look at her wife. Her face looked calm, but Weiss knew inside her brewed a storm. Weiss turned her attention back to the call: "Winter, I don't think that's a discussion we should have over the phone. Ruby and I will get ready and come pay you a visit, so we can talk in person."

"I will come over to you", Winter answered, "I need to get away from this house anyway."

"Okay, we will see you in a while, then."

"I'll be there in the hour."

And with that, the call ended. Weiss hung up.

"Ruby?"

"Yes, Weiss?"

"You're hurting the baby."

With a shocked gasp Ruby pulled her hands away. "Oh, shit, I am sorry, Weiss." She bowed down to Weiss' belly. "I'm sorry, little one."

Weiss pulled her into a gentle hug and gave her a light kiss on her cheek. "I know. We know. Don't worry."

Ruby snuggled into her wife. She took a deep breath of the scent of her wife, exhaled with a content hum and said happily: "When I see Qrow, I will punch him in the dick."

Weiss' shoulders shook from her silent laughter.

* * *

"And I told you, it's unhygienic. And I can't imagine it being good for your colon as well", Taiyang yelled into the house as he opened the door. "Oh", he froze, when he saw who knocked, "Ruby. What brings you here?"

"Hi, Daddy", she replied, as he stepped aside so she could enter, "I assume Raven is here."

"She is in the bedroom. Why? What's up?"

Ruby turned around as she approached the door. "No time, sorry. It's urgent."

Raven was still lying in bed, a book in hand, when Ruby blew open the door. Raven almost threw the book at her in reflex, expecting Taiyang to try and scare her. She managed to hold back when she noticed the red hair. "Ruby?" She blinked confused, then realized that she was still in her underwear, and quickly covered her with her blanket. "What is it?"

Ruby quickly averted her gaze, a small hue of red on her cheeks. "Sorry, I wasn't thinking." She stole another glance, and confirming that Raven was covered up, continued: "I need to speak to Qrow."

"So? He's not here."

"I know that. He is not at his house either. He disappeared. The only one who can find him is you."

"What? What did he do now?" She let out a sigh.

"That's private, sorry. But I _have_ to talk to him."

Raven bend over and grabbed a shirt lying on the floor, sniffed on it, contorted her face in disgust, and put it on. "Alright, you have your reasons." Her hand felt behind the headrest of the bed and pulled out her sword.

"What is going on", Taiyang asked again, standing in the door.

"I need to speak to uncle Qrow before he messes up big time."

Raven led out a dry chuckle. "Wouldn't be the first time."

"Like you have room to talk", Ruby replied grim.

Raven stopped putting on her pants and considered the young woman. "Okay, touchy subject. Geez."

"Sorry, Raven, but it's something that affects my family, and as such, I don't feel like joking."

Taiyang, now concern visible in his face, put his hand on his daughter's shoulder. "If you want to talk about it, I am here."

"Thanks, Dad, but that's something I think I can deal with."

He smiled warmly. "Offer stands."

Ruby and Raven stepped out of the house into the garden, the cool morning breeze sending shivers through the older woman's body. "Let's make it quick", Raven said, "I want to get back into the house." She gripped the hilt of her sword and quickly swung it out of her sheath. The red blade cut a hole into the air. The edges red, pulsating, humming. "There we go, this will bring you to him."

"Thanks, Raven." Ruby stepped through the portal.

The other side of it consisted of a dirty wooden hallway. It was dark and felt damp. The air carried a hint of mold in it, burning in Ruby's nostrils. The hallway itself was flanked by doors every few steps on either side. And then it dawned on her: She was in a hotel. An old, incredibly cheap one, it seemed.

She sighed. He could be in any of those rooms. From where she stood, she could see the reception void of life, so her only option was to check every single room.

She stepped up to the first door on her left. It looked dirty, the old white color, now a sick yellow, peeling off at multiple places, showing the ancient wood under it. She knocked on it gently, in some way scared of the door collapsing under too much force. But the room behind it stayed silent. She decided to knock again, this time with a little more force. The door withstood the assault, and now, steps sounded on the creaky wooden floor behind it. The door flew open, and a smelly, disheveled man yelled at her.

"What?"

Ruby scrunched her face. The guy reeked of booze. Really cheap one. Like, the self-made bathtub kind of stuff. "Excuse me, sir", she forced out as politely as she could, "I am looking for a Qrow Branwen."

He blinked at her for a second, then began to let his eyes travel over her body, unscrupulously checking her out. Ruby felt her stomach turn. "Ha, yeah, typical Qrow. Leave it to him to always get the best whores in the area. Although you're maybe a little too much on the muscly site for my taste."

Ruby crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. Great. Of course, she'd run into on of _those_ types of people. "So, do you know where he is or not?"

The drunken geezer again trailed his eyes over her. In fact, he might have never stopped. "Maybe I do", he started, "Tell you what, sugartits. I haven't had a bitch in years. How about you make it worth my while and I tell you where you can find him. Nothing big, just a quick dick-sucking. Would not want you to be exhausted before you get to the main event." His laugh was dirty, as if it was the most ingenious and smug thing he ever said. It most likely was.

Ruby smiled warmly as she lowered her arms again. She stepped closer to the man, his face beaming as he believed to have scored the big one. And that left him with lowered guard. Ruby, lighting fast – even without using her semblance – grabbed the site of the man's head and slammed it into the doorpost so hard that she could hear his cheekbones breaking. The man let out a surprised and painful gasp, as he fought off the powerful mist of unconsciousness.

Ruby kept his head tightly pressed against the now splintered wood, as she looked him dead in the eyes and said with ice cold voice: "Or I could rip your balls off and feed them to you as you bleed out from your crotch. Your choice."

"Okay, okay", the man pleaded, his nose starting to bleed slightly. "He is at the end of the hallway, the room on the right."

"Thank you", she answered with fake cheerfulness. She released the man's head, and he slid down the doorpost, trying in vain to keep himself on his feet.

"I am so sorry, ma'am", he whispered.

Ruby bowed down to him. "Try this again, and I will kill you. Understood?"

"Yes, yes", he cried, "I understand completely. I am so sorry!"

* * *

"What an asshole", Blake pressed out. The other guests in the café as well as the waitresses turned to give her a judgmental look, which the faunus deliberately ignored.

Weiss noticed the looks herself and was visibly embarrassed by them.

"Would you please not talk about him like that", Winter pleaded, her eyes red and puffy from crying.

"Why not?", Blake argued, "what he did was…"

"Blake", Weiss interrupted her, cheeks still pink, "please. You're letting your emotions get the better of you. I understand that you're angry; I am too. But let's be here for my sister and not to badmouth Qrow. I am sure whatever reason he had, Ruby will figure out what it is."

"Okay", the faunus huffed out, "but he'd better have a good one."

"I think he has one", Weiss offered.

"I _know_ he has one", Winter argued.

A soft smile painted itself on Weiss' lips. It was almost adorable how much Winter trusted Qrow. And Blake? Well, she was understanding to a fault. When she came over in the noon Winter was already there and cried her eyes out to her sister. Weiss assumed she looked helpless with the older woman in her arms, her shirt stained from the tears, because Blake immediately asked what was wrong, pulled the broken soldier from the younger snow-head and comforted her. To say Blake was angry when she heard the short version of what has transpired would be like saying that lava is a little warm: a massive and utter understatement. She was livid. Weiss honestly tried to remember if she ever saw the faunus so mad, but could not decide that she had. Blake offered to take Winter with them, and so they headed to a café to talk more in detail about what and how it happened, leading to Blake's initial outburst.

"What are you going to do now?"

Winter looked up at the faunus. She could see how tense her entire body was. She tried to keep herself together by the last threads. "I don't know", Winter sobbed out, "I don't feel like doing anything right now."

"Do you really think it's wise to fall into a depression so deep just because of some guy?", Blake asked, a little frustrated.

Winter's eyes sparked with anger. She straightened herself out, slammed her hand on the table that the dishes on it jumped, and yelled: "HE IS NOT…", before collecting her composure again and start anew, this time in a quiet, but still venomous tone: "He is not 'some guy'. He saved my life. And he took care of me."

"Because he was ordered to." Blake raised her hand when Winter opened her mouth to argue. "Look, all I am saying is: Don't lose yourself in your self-pity. Everything I heard out of your mouth is how _you_ messed up, how it was _your_ fault. And that's horse crap, quite frankly. If everything happened like you told me, none of this is your fault. _He_ got cold feet and chickened out. Wouldn't be the first time some guy did that."

Weiss was stunned by the anger in Blake's voice. It seemed to go far beyond sympathy or empathy and sounded more like this subject unearthed some unpleasant memories. She made a mental note to ask her about it later.

Winter, on the other hand, did not seem to notice that, or if she did, she did not care. She crossed her arms and huffed. "You don't get it, do you? Goddammit, do you know how hard it is for me to find anyone? To meet anyone? Most of the time I am so loaded with work that I don't even have free time. And when I actually _do_ go out finally and start talking to men, as soon as they hear what I do for a living, they're gone." Her voice started to break, tears flowing freely down her face. "And then I finally think I found someone who understands me, and he too disappears. And YOU have the fucking nerve to try and crush every iota of hope I have left that he may return!"

Blake felt like shit now. Weiss did not regard her with any hate or anger, no, she looked _apologetic_. As if she felt bad for her sister's outburst. But why? She was right. Disregarding her own and other people's feelings seems to be the only part of interaction she really nailed. Here before her sat a woman so heartbroken, so alone, and she had nothing better to do than take the sharpest words she could find and jam them into her bleeding heart. Well done, Blake, you massive idiot.

"I'm sorry."

Winter regarded her for a few moments, before breathing out deeply. "It's okay. I overreacted."

"No, no, you did not. I… I just… got reminded of my past."

Weiss wanted nothing more than ask her what she meant, but she knew she should not inquire. For one, they were here to help Winter. And second, it was Blake's personal problem. She'd talk about it if she wanted.

* * *

She knocked harder. "Open up, Qrow. I know you're in there." She tried the doorknob. It was unlocked. That's strange. Slowly and carefully, every sense alert, she stepped into the dimly lit room. The old lightbulb inside the just as old ceiling lamp must have been the best thing money could buy. Seventy years ago.

She looked around. The floor was littered with bottles of beer, gin, and something that looked like moonshine. A handful of fast-food packages were scattered in-between. Ruby spotted two feet sticking out from the other side of the disgustingly dirty bed. She kicked them.

"Wha…?", Qrow muttered as he was awoken. He pulled himself up, hands grabbing the frame of the bed. He looked like utter shit. His clothes were stained, sweaty and greasy. His hair was disheveled, his nose red, his eyes dark and puffy. Ruby was not sure if the grime stuck on his chin was from the floor, or vomit.

Ruby felt her heart sink at the picture before her. "I thought you were over that shit", she said, demonstratively kicking a bottle, making it roll towards his feet.

"Get out", he slurred. He tried to stand up, but his arms gave in and he fell back on the ground with a loud smack.

"I will do no such thing. I am here so you can tell me what kind of demon shat in your brain to pull such a stunt." Ruby deliberately spoke in a hushed voice, lest her anger took the better of her and she yelled in his face.

Again, he tried to pull himself up. He managed to get into a sitting position. Resting against the bed, but still, a start.

"Winter called us in the morning to inform us that you just fucked off after she told you how she felt." Her looked pierced Qrow's. "She was crying, Qrow."

Qrow averted her gaze. He closed his eyes, lips trembling. In his mind, he saw her: Body tense, cheeks red, eyes closed and her soft hand under his, as she spoke those words. This image got washed away, like an oil painting in the sea. Now, he saw her crying, alone, confused. She did not know why he left. How could she? He never talked about his past. He could feel his eyes sting.

"Talk to me, Qrow. Why did you leave?"

Desperately, he tried to fight the tears. But it was a losing battle. His body was shaken by the silent sobs. His throat felt like he swallowed a stone. His hands grabbed his legs as he cried into his knees. "I…", he began, voice breaking, "I did it to protect her."

"What do you mean?" Ruby was, honestly, confused. What was he talking about? He is a huntsman, yes, which is a dangerous profession, but so is Winter's. She was in the hospital a few weeks ago because of her job, after all.

He took a few deep breaths, and as he felt like he calmed down enough to speak, he answered: "My semblance."

A cold shower. This would have described the feeling best which washed over her. Of course! How could she have not figured it out on her own? But… "Is it really that bad? I mean, Winter likes you, and I bet she is willing to power through whatever your semblance throws at her."

He shook his head, making his unkempt hair bounce a little. "It's not that easy. She is not the first woman I've been with. It never ends good for them."

Ruby knew there was something more here. Something he did not tell. "What happened to them?"

Qrow laid back and looked at the ceiling as he reminisced. "Usually, they break up after some nasty fights, because they just couldn't take it anymore. But sometimes…" He took a deep breath, "Sometimes, it ends worse. Far worse. One of them died in a car crash. Drunk driver hit her. The police said she was conscious as she burned to death. Another…" Again he stopped. He struggled to get the words out. He struggled against the memory. "Another was murdered. By her father. He was a junkie, and in one of his hallucinations he shot her. Thought she was a Grimm. And my last girlfriend? She was raped and beaten by a mob sent to my house when I was at a job. Someone I put in jail tried to get his revenge. She killed herself. I found her body hanging from a support beam in the attic. I sold the house, could not keep living in it."

"Oh, my God." This sentence was all Ruby could muster at that moment. Her mind short-circuited after she heard what happened.

"And now you know", he grumbled, voice filled with regret. He lifted an empty bottle from the floor. "And you know, why I drink."

"But…", Ruby started. She jumpstarted her brain. She needed a way to get him out of here. Back into his life. Back to Winter. "But, are you sure that's your semblance's fault? What you told me sounded like someone else was at fault every single time."

"Ruby, please", he pleaded, "I know what you are trying. Just leave me alone. The sooner she forgets about me, the better."

"And you really think I am going to do that? Yeah, no, you got another thing coming, old-timer."

"Ruby, why won't you listen? My semblance is dangerous!" He yelled this time.

She regarded him for a few moments. With a sigh, she let herself down and sat next to him. "Listen, Qrow", she began. Her voice was gentle, soothing. "I understand how you feel now. I get that you don't want to hurt her, seriously, I understand. But believe me when I tell you that you hurt her far worse yesterday by disappearing than any semblance ever could. Winter is strong, Qrow. And she is smart. Explain to her why you did what you did. Explain your semblance. Let her understand. Don't decide for yourself what involves her too. And don't waste what could be a great relationship. What happened to your former partners is tragic, no doubts about that. You are grieving, and that's fine. But I can also see what you are not: A quitter. You proved that many a time."

He sighed. He hated when Ruby was like this. He hated when she argued so well that he had nothing to reply. Carefully, he got up. His knees shook, his vision blurred, but he fought it. He was not a quitter. She was absolutely right. He turned to her, and with a smile said: "Thanks, kiddo. I needed that."

She chuckled humorlessly. "Yeah, no shit. Now", she stood up, "make yourself presentable. You have a relationship to attend to."

* * *

Winter almost threw him on the living room floor as she tackled him into a hug. She cried freely, but with a smile. Ruby, Blake and Weiss were looking at the reunion with warm smiles; the Rose's ones toothy and wide, Blake's more reserved.

"I'm sorry, Winter", Qrow began.

Winter pushed him out of the hug a bit and looked him in the eyes. "Tell me later. In private." They both stood there, arms around and gazing longingly at each other, before Winter spoke again: "You stink like a distillery."

 **AN: This chapter took forever. Sorry about that. Next one will be a lot more relaxed and easy going again.**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

 **A/N: Little trivia: The scenes between Qrow and Winter were inspired by a friend of mine. Everything you read in the previous chapter and will read in future ones actually happened in a similar way, with some of my own experiences mixed in.**

She put down the little plate with her half-eaten piece of cake. She sighed. "So that was why?"

Qrow did not dare look at her. His eyes were fixed on the floor, arms crossed. "I'm sorry. I should have told you instead of running. But I was scared the same would happen to you."

Her gaze wandered to the window. From their restaurant booth she could see people, couples, walking hand in hand, smiling, talking. "What now?" Her voice carried a bit of fright.

"I am still scared. And I am unsure if this is the right thing."

Her heart sunk, but if she was honest, she expected this answer. "So, that's it?"

For the first time in minutes he looked her in the eyes. "I'm not saying that. Ruby and I talked about that. I guess, I just need some time."

Winter took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. She felt like crying. But she is still a Schnee, and a Schnee does not cry. At least not in public. "Okay", she breathed out, "I understand. I'll give you time."

"Thank you, Winter."

"But", she added, "I will not wait forever. I am willing to respect you and let you deal with your problems. But they are your problems, not mine, and I will not give up on other possible relationships because you can't make up your mind. I am in love with you, Qrow, believe me, but I am not stupid enough to wait for something that might never happen."

Qrow did not say anything as Winter laid a few bucks on the table for her food and left.

* * *

"Are you done yet?", Ruby wined from the seat next to the changing room of the extravagant clothing store Weiss dragged her and Blake into. Well, Ruby was dragged. Blake actually got the idea for visiting the store. Ruby kinda resented her for that now.

Weiss rummaged through the clothes hangers, looking for some maternity clothes for her growing belly. And only the best was good enough. She may be pregnant, but no way in hell will she walk around like a rag. "Done?", her voice sounded from a pile of dresses, "don't be absurd. We've been here for roughly two hours. I haven't even started yet."

"Likewise", Blake chimed in from the rack of pants a few feet behind Weiss, "I could spend hours in here."

Ruby drew her hands over her face and groaned. She turned to a male costumer who happened to observe the scenario and said: "Never go buying clothes with women."

The man could not help but chuckle, earning an angry look from who seemed to be his girlfriend or wife.

"You are one yourself, dumdum", Weiss said.

"So they say."

"So _I_ say. And I know", Weiss argued back, throwing a dress that caught her eye onto the pile on the shopping cart.

"Oh, yeah? You sure about that?"

"I am pretty sure our marriage registry said Miss Schnee and Miss Rose, not Miss Schnee and Ladyboy Rose."

"Wow", Blake said, "that's a bit insensitive."

"Maybe I faked the registry paper", Ruby replied playfully with a grin.

"Don't even joke about that!" And Ruby's grin was gone. "That would mean our entire marriage was invalid. I know you were just messing around, but please, not on that topic."

"Relax, Weissy. Everything is fine. We can call the Standesamt if you want to make sure." She pulled out her scroll and waved it around a bit.

The cat-faunus blinked confused. "What's that about arms?"

Weiss could not stop herself from snorting. "Not 'arm', 'Amt'. The Standesamt."

"It's the registry office here in Atlas that keeps track of personal information of all citizens of Atlas, such as birth, marriage and death. You have to go there to register a marriage. That's the only way to get legally married here", Ruby explained.

"What about church", Blake inquired. "I mean, surely you can marry in church, right?"

"No", Weiss answered, loading another piece of clothing onto her cart, "doesn't mean jack. People often do it because they consider it romantic, but it has no official or legal value. In fact, the people who want a traditional wedding in church _have_ to have visited the Standesamt first." _have_

"Wow", that was all she could say. Not only what Weiss told her, but how she told it, flabbergasted her. She stated it so coldly, so matter-of-fact, as if she found nothing interesting or desirable in a wedding in a church, with a fancy dress, sparkling brighter than the sun.

"As a tradeoff we have the benefit of same-sex marriage here in Atlas", Ruby added.

"That was not a 'tradeoff', Ruby. The church is practically worthless in Atlas for hundreds of years now, while we got same-sex marriage ten years ago."

"It worked out for you two, didn't it? I mean, you have all rights hetero families have", the cat-faunus asked from between a bunch of coats, sticking her head out like a… well, like a cat.

"It did", Weiss confirmed, "and I am unbelievable grateful for Atlas to give us the opportunity. But still, I find it should have been made legal way sooner. But our politicians are… traditional."

"They are antiquated farts who don't know how this country and the world works", Ruby added.

"That too", Weiss smirked.

"At least they changed something in Atlas. In Patch and Vale it's still illegal. Sure, Yang and I can live in a civil partnership, which allows us to adopt, but still, it would be nice to have _one_ name on the doorbell, you know?"

"Have you thought about moving?"

Blake threw Weiss a puzzled look. "You mean to Atlas?"

"When the mountain won't come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain", Ruby chimed in from her chair.

"Weird analogy", Weiss replied, "but fitting. Yeah, move to Atlas."

"Okay, okay", Blake threw into the conversation, "wait a second. Why should we move? I mean, yeah, marriage would be nice, but we have a little house, I have a pretty well-paid job, and we have a beautiful daughter. I am content, honestly."

"Didn't you just say you'd like to get married? Make up your mind", Ruby teased.

"I was talking hypothetical. It _would_ be nice, but it's not a necessity. I am happy with how things are and so is Yang."

"That's what matters", Weiss agreed.

"That's true", the red-head added. She slumped down in her chair a little bit, her butt honestly starting to hurt now. "So, Yang is dealing with the little predator right now, hu?"

"Oh, that's right", Weiss realized, "No wonder it was so quiet. No offence."

Ruby and Blake shared a look, before asking Weiss out of one mouth: "To whom?"

Weiss stopped for a second. "Both of you, I guess. If I did not know Türkis was adopted I could have sworn it was Yang's child by blood. They are both rather… lively."

Blake chuckled involuntarily over Weiss' try to be diplomatic. "They can be annoying. Say it like it is. But I would not have it any other way. You know, at work the only things I hear are the buzzing of computers, the soft ringing of telephones and the clacking of keyboards. I find it refreshing to be able to return to smiles and laughter."

The Roses smiled warmly at the way Blake's voice softened and her eyes began to sparkle.

The shopping spree ended soon™ after; Ruby thanked every God that came to mind for that. Weiss insisted on paying for the content of Blake's shopping cart, with the final value adding up to 15463,98 Lien. Honestly, at least 15100 of that came from Weiss' cart. Blake was stunned when the cashier called out the price, but Ruby assured her that this kind of escapade is normal for her wife.

Back at home Ruby carried twelve full bags of clothes up the stairs into their sleeping room where the walk-in closet was. She needed to make multiple trips for that. She went into the living room afterwards and made herself comfortable on the sofa. Weiss noted that she was sitting for two hours at the store and complained how her butt hurt after that but had not hesitated to jump onto the sofa, but Ruby replied that this was "different". She decided to let it go and asked Blake if she wanted to try the new clothes on they just bought.

"Oh, you just have to try this one on", Weiss said excitedly, holding a black cocktail dress against Blakes slender form. "This will look amazing on you!"

The next minutes to an hour were spent just trying on the clothes bought in the store again. After all, the lighting is different in those stores, and at home, with natural light, one tends to see little details, like how a dress falls around the body, for example.

Blake was currently rummaging through Weiss' closet, looking for fancy and expensive looking clothes to try on, when Weiss asked: "Say, Blake, remember the other day, when we talked with Winter about Qrow?"

Her back turned to the snow-head, Blake picked up a sparkling dress and answered: "I hope they could work out whatever troubled them."

"Me too", she replied, taking a seat at the end of her king-sized bed. "But I wanted to talk about you."

"Me?" With a confused look on her face Blake turned around.

"You were really aggressive towards him. As if he hurt _you_ , not my sister. What was that all about?"

Blake chewed on her lower lip, her shoulders tense. "I'm pretty sure you know the answer."

Yeah. She did. It was obvious, of course, but not asking meant assuming, which is the first step towards prejudice, something Weiss avoided like the plague in her adult years. "Adam", she concluded.

Blake nodded. "And no, I don't want to talk about it."

"That's fine, I won't ask any more questions. But it surprised and scared me honestly to see you so worked up."

A soft smile crawled onto her lips involuntarily. "Thank you for your concern."

"Don't mention it, it's what friends are for, right?"

Blake nodded, now with a toothy grin on her face. "Right."

 **A/N: Sorry for the long absence. I was really sick the last weeks. I'm now feeling better, way better, so I am back to writing. I will also try to make the chapters longer from now on. I also got some ideas for another story, so stay tuned.**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Sorry it took so long. I wrote some chapters in advance and then decided to push this one and chapter 16 between them to flesh out the relationships between our beloved characters. I hope a break this long will not happen again.**

Chapter 15

A gentle breeze combed through her white silky hair, feeling like a soft hand massaging her scalp. The sky was clear, the sun high, spreading its warmth all over the countryside. Weiss was wearing a white loose summer dress and let her hair open. Blake was walking ahead, a little basket in her right hand. She had her hair tied into a ponytail and sported a black top with hot pants. The two walked down a little dirt path a few minutes of driving away from Weiss' house towards a little clearing.

"The weather is lovely today", Weiss said, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand.

"I know, right? Not too hot, not too cold. The perfect day for a picnic." She did a twirl, carrying a bright smile on her face. She looked like a little kid on its way to the funfair, Weiss thought.

"You look happy", Weiss proclaimed.

A small giggle escaped Blake's lips. "How could I not? The weather is great, we got a lot of great food with us", she demonstratively raised the basket, "and I get to hang out with you. Quite honestly, I enjoy our little trips."

"Likewise" Weiss replied. Thinking back on her childhood, she found it hard to justify her former bias towards faunus nowadays. Many of them worked for her company nowadays (with contracts, benefits and overall very humane treatments) and she regarded Blake as her best friend. Next to Ruby, of course.

The two reached the clearing. Blake reached into the basket and pulled out a thin blanket, which she unfolded with a quick shake and laid out on the fresh grass. Weiss took her seat und served the food they had prepared beforehand: Sandwiches, a plate of meat and some caviar, because, as Weiss put it, one can not live off of bread alone. A bottle of mineral water was also brought, in case of sudden thirst.

"So" Weiss began, taking a bite from Ruby's delicious chicken toasts, "tell me, how are Yang and Türkis?"

"Good" she answered. It was quite a while since the Roses saw Ruby's sister and the little one, so Blake decided to elaborate a bit: "She is a speedster like always. Runs around the house, tries to open the drawers, draws on the walls, wants to get her hands on everything, tries putting stuff in her mouth she really shouldn't…"

Weiss could feel a warm smile creeping onto her face. "Sounds like Türkis is still a handful."

Blake looked at her perplexed for a moment. "I was talking about Yang."

Not a moment later, both burst into laughter.

"But seriously" Blake chuckled, "they are both doing great. Why are you asking?"

Involuntarily, Weiss rested a hand on her growing belly. "I just want to know as much as I can about how it is with a child, you know? I can't wait to have my own, and hearing you talk about it just makes me all the more excited."

"You will be a great mother. Both of you."

Weiss could feel a blush coming on. "Thank you, Blake. It means a lot to me. I am honestly a little scared about having a child. What if I make mistakes, you know?"

"You will" Blake said, completely matter-of-fact, without missing a beat. "Yang and I did too. None of us are perfect. But raising a kid is not about preventing mistakes. It's about caring and loving it, no matter what will happen; it's about leaving your mark in the world. Or rather, another mark, in yours and Ruby's case."

"More Ruby than I. She killed Salem. I am just the head of some company," she chuckled.

Blake did the same, a little louder. "It is always so cute to see how you love her so much you put her on a pedestal every time."

"She deserves it. She saved the world, married me and is the mother of our child. She made me the happiest woman on this planet, ever."

The faunus rolled her eyes playfully. "You sound like a love-struck teenager. Wanna take your parents' Chevrolet and drive her up a hill so you two can make out to soft rock-ballads on the radio?"

"I would not be opposed. She is a great kisser," Weiss smirked, taking another bite of her sandwich.

"Seems to run in the family, apparently", Blake added.

* * *

"Where is Türkis," Ruby sang as she tiptoed through the apartment, indulging in a game of hide-and-seek with the child.

Yang was in the kitchen, preparing dinner. Something she loved doing, especially if it was for her girlfriend and daughter. Potatoes, sausages and béchamel sauce. A dish not only their daughter loved, Yang had to admit, as the pleasant smells caressed her nose.

"You know, Ruby," she yelled into the hallway, "I get the feeling you only came over to play with the little one."

Ruby noticed a slightly opened door on the wardrobe in the bedroom of her sister and Blake. Silent as a mouse she walked over and pulled the door open with a playful growl. Türkis, who hid under clothes she seemed to have pulled of their hangers, started to giggle and squeal in excitement.

"Got ya," Ruby said, tickling the little faunus.

Rustling reached Yang's ears, and after a few seconds and muffled chuckles, Ruby stepped into the kitchen, Türkis in her strong arms.

"Would that be a problem," Ruby replied to her sister's question.

Yang walked over and took the giggling faunus of her sister's arms. She gave her daughter a big kiss on her soft cheek, which in turn earned her halfhearted protests from her.

"No, not at all. We've seen each other a lot since Weiss became pregnant. I like it. I miss my baby sister sometimes."

"Likewise, sis," Ruby replied. "I really enjoy those get-togethers."

Türkis nestled herself in Yang's shoulder as the blonde continued: "And now, that our two ladies are hanging out together, we will see each other even more, I reckon."

Ruby's eyes lit up as a realization hit her: "Oh, when the baby is born, Türkis will get a little play partner! She can be like a big sister to our child!"

"Do you know if it's going to be a boy or a girl?"

"Not yet. We want to go in a month."

"Why not now? She is what, almost three months in now? I am pretty sure you can determine the gender already."

Türkis tensed a bit on her mother's arm. "Mommy…" she spoke, but Yang asked her to be quiet.

"You could. But the doctors in Atlas are legally obliged to keep the gender a secret until after three months passed," she spoke as she took a seat at the small kitchen table.

"Okay," Yang said confused. "Any reason why?"

"Abortion. After three months it's illegal to abort a child in Atlas. It's to prevent people from cherry picking their preferred gender."

"Sounds reasonable."

"Mommy," Türkis said again, this time a bit more demanding.

Türkis started struggling on her mother's shoulder, leaving Yang no other option than to shift her attention to the little child. "What is wrong," she asked.

Türkis pointed over Yang's back towards the stove and said: "The food."

Yang's eyes followed her finger. "Oh, fuck!"

The béchamel sauce was boiling over. The stove was a mess of sticky, creamy white; the pot was covered in bubbles and steam.

Quickly, Yang set her daughter on Ruby's lap and grabbed the pot to take it off the hot plate. Sadly, panic always was a bad advisor, and so she grabbed the hot, sauce covered handles with her bare hands.

Screaming something between "fuck" and "shit", she set the pot on a cold plate with surprising care, as to not spoil any more.

Ruby looked on in awe and concern, as her sister turned on the kitchen faucet and held her hands under the cold water.

"Do you need help," Ruby asked. The question was honestly stupid, and she knew it. Of course she needed help. But she also knew of Yang's pride. When she messed something up, she liked to fix it alone.

True to her thoughts, Yang shook her head. "No, don't worry, I got this. My aura luckily protected my hands from far worse. It just hurts like fuck is all."

Türkis, who observed the entire weird situation, trying to make head and tail of what just happened, looked at the mess on the stove and, in her innocence, tried to imitate her mother by saying: "Fuck."

Ruby started to laugh as she saw Yang's face. Saying she grew pale would have been an understatement. Quickly, she tried herself in damage control: "Türkis, don't say that! That's a bad word! I only said it because I was in panic and pain, okay?"

"That's right," Ruby supported her sister. "Nice children don't use this word. And you are a nice child, are you not?"

Türkis nodded. "My mamas say I am the nicest kid in the world."

"Well, if you want to stay that way, you can not use this word, okay?"

Again, Türkis nodded. "I want to stay nice, aunt Ruby."

Ruby could not restrain herself and patted the little child's head. "That's good." She lifted Türkis off her lap and said: "Why don't you go play with your toys and I help your mom clean up?"

* * *

"I wonder what our girls are doing right now," Weiss spoke, resting her back against the tree.

"Chaos. Pure, unadulterated chaos."

She rose an eyebrow at the deadpan way Blake spoke her sentence.

"Oh, by the way, you're going back to work soon, right?"

Weiss nodded. "Yeah, in two weeks. I had to promise Ruby to be careful and watch what I eat. She is extremely protective since I am pregnant."

Blake chuckled knowingly. "She always was. Remember when Raven came over? I've never seen that woman so scared."

"You're right, but I feel like it's worse now, you know? Sometimes to feels like she does not trust that I can take care of myself."

"You know that's not true," Blake argued. She rested her hand on Weiss' shoulder. "She knows you're strong. She loves and trusts you. But you have to understand, it's a big change in her and your life. You two went through a lot to get where you guys are now. She just wants to be absolutely sure everything works out."

Weiss sighed and laid her hand on top of Blake's. "Thank you," she said with a gentle smile. "You are a great friend, you know that?"


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"Misses Rose, it is so good to have you back!" Aki practically jumped over her table to greet her boss coming in to work for the first time in three months.

"Thank you, Aki. I would have been back earlier if my wife would have led me."

Aki stole a quick look towards Weiss' belly. Maybe a little bulge is there, but her boss was wearing her jacket still, making it hard to be certain. "So, I reckon the procedure was successful?"

"Would you please keep your nose out of my uterus", Weiss replied without missing a beat, as she opened the large doors to her office.

"Of course, I apologize. It's just that… the way of conception was unique and peeked my interest."

"Unique? We had sex. You should go out more if you consider that unique." Weiss took a seat at her large table, moved the mouse of the PC to wake up the monitor and opened her e-mail box. 35641 confidential mails. Only for her eyes. "Oh, fuck me", she sighed.

"I reckon your wife would be opposed to that", Aki replied with a giggle in her voice.

Weiss raised her eyebrows so high it seemed like they would fly up to the ceiling. "Did you just make a joke?" She said that with genuine confusion.

"Wouldn't dream of it, sir", Aki replied with the slyest grin Weiss had ever seen.

Weiss was at a loss for words. At least for a second or two. After those came a hearty laugh forcing tears out of her eyes. "Okay, what did they do to you while I was gone?"

"Nothing, I'm just happy that you are back. Work is boring when there is nobody around to interrupt me every ten minutes, you know."

"Likewise," Weiss giggled, still in tears. "But I got a lot of work to do, so we have to cut our little conversation short."

"Oh, absolutely, I will leave you to it then." With a quick twirl Aki left the office, leaving Weiss alone with a lot of people awaiting replies.

So, she did just that: reading through her e-mails and answering where appropriate. People trying to offer business deals, only to then revoke the offer because the answer did not come in time, invitations to dinners and meetings long gone and done, the regular updates on her businesses and wealth in general. She spent the next five hours going through every e-mail that looked important in the slightest, until she discovered one that stood out. The header read: Regarding the death of Mr. Winsor. Weiss let her mind work for a minute. She was unsure if she ever heard the name before. So, she opened the mail and read it. Apparently, there was a dinner in his honor, and his funeral was held under the Schnee banner. Weiss scrunched her nose; she knew the reason they did that was so the company could improve its reputation. As if she did not work hard enough for that. Did the chairmen really need to sully a funeral for their propaganda? Weiss leaned over to the speaker on the table and pressed the red button under it. A few seconds later the door opened and Aki stepped it.

"What can I do for you?"

"Give me some information, I hope. I just read a mail about a Mister Winsor who died?"

Aki nodded, a sad expression on her face. Weiss knew it was not genuine, she just did in because it was 'appropriate'. "Yes, a tragedy, really. He was killed."

"Okay?", Weiss replied, leaning back in her chair, "And what relation did he have with the company that the chairmen thought it a good idea to ruin his funeral by waving flags?"

"Oh, he was a very important cornerstone of the company during the time your father was leading it." Every trace of any fake sadness in her voice and face was suddenly swept away. Her tone now made it sound like she read of a paper or something. No emotional attachment at all.

"How so?"

"Well, you see, he constructed hundreds of affordable houses and apartments all around Remnant, all under the guidance of your father. The two met at a party, rumor says."

"Now, wait a minute. Affordable housing? By my father? Are you certain? Because 'affordable' was not a word he was fond of if it refered to more people than him."

Aki shrugged. She looked a little helpless, not sure what to say. "Maybe… maybe he wanted to help?"

A humorless laugh from Weiss. "Wanted to help, my hot tight ass. Aki, you never met that guy. Pardon my language, but my father was a racist, abusive, arrogant fuckhead. When that shit kicked the bucket and I inherited the company I had to clean up, so to speak. He exploited people, especially faunus, almost his entire life. No way in hot Hell did he want to help anyone. There must have been more to it."

"Well…", Aki started, trying to collect her thoughts after the shock over her boss's outburst, "I could make some calls, see what I can dig up."

"That would be lovely. Oh, and Aki?"

Aki stopped in her tracks to the door and turned around expectantly.

"Please get my chairmen on the line. I want to give them a piece of my mind about the funeral."

"Of course."

* * *

"I hope she will be okay."

A groan escaped Yang's lips upon hearing her sister utter this sentence for the umpteenth time. "Would you relax? She is not going to carve a fucking hole into a mountain with her bare hands, she is just going back to work. You know, sitting on her ass, hitting keys on a keyboard. The worst thing that could happen to her is getting carpal tunnel."

Ruby's eyes widened in shock. "Do you think that could be bad for the baby?"

Yang could not believe what she heard. Her mouth agape, she just stared at Ruby as if she was form another dimension. "You can't be serious. Ruby, stop fucking with me."

Blake, being the silent observer for the last few minutes of the conversation, added, almost a whisper, but still loud enough to be heard: "That would be weird, she is you sister after all."

Yang's head snapped around like a whip. "I said 'with'. 'With'. Goddamn it, woman, stop being nasty."

"I just love to tease you", she replied with a smug grin.

Ruby decided it would be better to act like she did not hear Blake, and answered Yang: "I know, I know, I am just so worried!"

Yang rested a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You're stressing yourself out too much. It's Weiss. She can handle it."

* * *

"So, would you mind explaining yourselves?" Weiss' voice was stern.

"Of course. You see, Miss Schnee, we came to the conclusion…"

Weiss jumped out of her seat in rage. "Excuse you?", she yelled, "how did you just address me?"

The man on the other end of the line fell silent. He cleared his throat. "Please excuse me. I don't know what came over me. It's Misses, of course."

Weiss decided to put the metaphorical knife on the man's throat. "Misses what?"

"Misses Rose, of course."

 _Lucky bastard_ , Weiss thought. "Very good. So, go on."

"Yes, of course. We just thought it would be good publicity if the Schnee Company shows its sympathy for a good friend of your father and a supporter of the company."

"By waving our emblem at a funeral. Have you no shame?"

"Of course, but…"

"No buts", Weiss interrupted, "the company has a bad enough reputation as is. Do you really think an action like that will improve anything? For the people who hate the company this shit is even more of a reason to defame us."

The other end stayed silent.

"Now, do you have anything to say to defend yourselves?" Weiss tried to calm herself down.

"No," the man on the other end said dejected. "We don't."

"I figured as much," she spat out. "I hope you realize you're on thin ice here. Another thing like this and I will be forced to replace every single one of you, do you understand?"

"You can't do that," was the response on the other end. It did not sound surprised or shocked, no. It sounded more like he was stating facts.

"Oh, you think? I _own_ this company. Trust me, I will find a way," she growled back.

But the voice on the other and stayed calm. "Like I said, I can only apologize for the maneuver at the funeral, and it will not happen again. But I would advise against replacing any of the chairmen."

Weiss could not believe what she heard. Never, in none of the phone calls or personal meetings, did she experience this situation. Was he… threatening her? What the hell is going on?

She decided it was better to end the conversation now. She steeled herself, and spoke in trained calm: "We will see."

After she ended the call, she buzzed Aki back in.

"How can I help you further, Misses?"

She leaned over on the desk, rested her elbows on it and spoke: "Give me the files of my chairmen, together with their contracts."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

She came home exhausted. Spending six hours reading boring lists, contracts and diplomas did a number on her brain. Normally, she could go for another three hours, at least, but due to the pregnancy she shared her energy with another growing person, after all.

The sun was setting, covering the façade of the mansion and the long hallway behind the glass-crested front door. The birds sang their song to welcome the night, and the wind cooled off from a warm breeze to an icy blow.

She stepped into her home. The first sounds greeting her were of the television coming from the living room. She took a seat on the sofa next to her wife, who immediately wrapped an arm around her and gave her a kiss.

"Tough day," Ruby asked, her eyes fixated, but not really focused, on the TV.

As the relaxation hit her, Weiss had to stifle a yawn. "You can say that again. A crapton of mails and some nasty phone calls."

"But everything is alright?" Her voice was heavy with concern.

Weiss exhaled. "I don't know, honestly. I guess we'll see what's coming."

Ruby tightened her hug around her wife. "Please be careful with the stress. Remember, I am always there for you. Just call me."

Weiss reciprocated the hug, snuggling against Ruby's muscular form. "I know. I love you, honey."

"I love you too."

The two Roses enjoyed a movie together. Some cheesy action flick, but everything was welcomed for Weiss to get her mind away from work.

At the second commercial break, Ruby spoke up: "I am excited for next week."

Next week? Was there something special? A birthday? No. Some anniversary? No, theirs was in November, a few months away.

Ruby apparently noticed how Weiss struggled to remember. "Seriously, Weiss?"

The snow-head raised herself off of her wife and threw her an annoyed look. "Well, sorry that I have my mind full with work and the baby…"

And then it hit her.

The smug smile on her wife was infuriating, honestly.

"The baby! Of course. We have an appointment to find out the gender!" She noticed how excited it sounded, and quickly composed herself, clearing her throat. "I mean, of course I did not forget. How could I?"

And Ruby's smug grin grew even wider.

* * *

Grumbling and mumbling, Qrow walked down the hallway to Ironwood's office. His message pulled Qrow out of a rather pleasant dream, and he would give him a piece of his mind in a few seconds. Okay, it might have been in the middle of the day, but still.

Closing in on the door to his office, Qrow could make out voices. Two of them. One of them was James', the other… He took a deep breath, steeling himself for the upcoming awkward moments, and entered.

"Finally," Ironwood proclaimed. "Now that you are here, we can discuss why I called you."

Qrow sat down in the empty chair in front of the huge desk. He demonstratively avoided looking to his right, to the woman sitting next to him.

He knew it was childish.

"Hello, Qrow," came the cold greeting.

He stole a quick glance towards her, and replied, with equal amounts of faked disinterest in his voice: "Winter."

Ironwood's eyes darted between the two for a second, trying to read the situation between the two. He decided to not address whatever was going on, as long as the two paid attention to what he wanted to discuss.

"So, why did you call me over?" Qrow grumbled out.

Ironwood handed him a folder containing photographs and papers containing details about several people. Trailing his eyes over the papers, none of the names were familiar to him. "What is this?"

Again, Ironwood did not answer him. Instead, Winter handed Qrow a binder, and judging by the weight as he took it, it was full of information. As he opened it up, a strangely familiar face greeted him on the first page. The name under the picture made him realize how he knew the face. It read 'Cobalt Winsor'.

"That's the guy who got killed a couple of weeks back," Qrow said.

Ironwood nodded. "Exactly. We investigated his death, tried to figure out why someone would kill him. You probably heard about his deeds. He was praised as an honorable, philanthropic person. Loved by many, hated by none."

"But that wasn't the truth," Winter assumed.

A sigh escaped Ironwood's lips as he took a seat in his chair. He folded his hands together and rested them on the desk, as he spoke: "We don't know."

Winter arched a delicate eyebrow. Qrow closed the binder and threw him a tired look. "What do you mean, you don't know?"

James demanded the folder he gave Qrow a few seconds ago, and opened it up, as he continued: "I mean, that we have almost no information about this guy other than what the public knows." He shuffled through the papers. "We know where he was born, his education, all that jazz."

"But that's all over the internet," Winter reminded.

"I know, trust me," Ironwood replied. "However, did you know that his funeral was recently held?"

Qrow and Winter shared a quick, questioning look. They didn't.

"Figured as much. It was held in a very exclusive and secure place, with quite some big people from high society."

"Obviously. The guy was influential and rich. I don't see how your problem gather information comes in," Qrow said.

Ironwood kept shuffling through the papers some more, until he found what he was looking for. "I think," he said, "that our investigations are being hampered."

"What makes you say that?" asked Winter puzzled.

Ironwood grabbed the piece of paper he searched for out of the folder and placed it on the table for the two to see. It was a printout of a photograph, and seemed to show the mentioned funeral. There were people conversing and drinking in the foreground, a buffet and alcohol placed on large tables behind them, and in the background were two massive banners, perfectly in frame, as if the photographer's sole intent was to capture them.

And they showed the emblem of the Schnee Dust Company.

"Oh, that's a huge problem…" Qrow mumbled.

Winter jumped out of her chair. "Wait a second! Sir, are you implying that my sister is disturbing the investigation? With all due respect, but…"

"I don't," interrupted Ironwood, his voice still calm and collected. He knew she would react like this.

It was Qrow, who quickly understood what he was really trying to say. "Weiss doesn't know."

* * *

Weiss was up to her neck in papers again. She received the files and contracts, as asked, from Aki three days ago, and was currently studying the third of fifteen, a formerly blank piece of paper on the side, allowing her to write down notes or anything else interesting she might be able to use.

The sun was sinking below the horizon. At least in Weiss' office, at the thirtieth and top level of the skyscraper of the Schnee Dust Company. The streets were already covered in darkness.

A knock at the door. Weiss did not react. She didn't hear it. A second knock, more forceful. Still, no reply.

"Weiss?"

Ruby carefully opened the door, not wanting to make too much noise and disturb her wife's concentration. She stepped up do the desk, and only then Weiss noticed movement and looked up from her papers. She looked exhausted.

"Oh, hi, Ruby," she greeted her weakly. "What are you doing here?"

"Pulling you from your desk and taking you home to bed. Do you know what time it is?" Her voice was stern. She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot.

"No, I don't. Now if you could please leave me alone, I really have to deal with this." And with that, she shifted her attention back to the paper in her hand.

"Wrong. You really have to go to bed. It's almost eleven." Ruby walked around towards the chair her wife sat in, and pulled it away from the desk.

"Ruby!" Weiss yelled out, "stop it! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"With me?" Ruby replied. She did not yell, but she was very annoyed. "You are pregnant, for fuck's sake. You need rest, and still you pulled all-nighters the last few days!"

Weiss stood up from her seat and slammed the paper on the desk. "But I am not helpless or stupid! I am well aware of what I can and can't do. Ruby, this is important!"

Ruby was taken aback by Weiss' sudden outburst. She prepared to calm her down, but then she noticed her wife starting to stumble and sway a bit. Ruby quickly stepped up and laid her arms around her to prevent her from falling.

"Looks like you sat for too long. Come on, time to go home."

Weiss could feel her feet losing ground as she was lifted into strong arms. She was dizzy, sure, but getting carried was way too embarrassing! She wanted to protest, but suddenly a wave of exhaustion washed over her, and she decided to let Ruby carry her. At this time, no one else was in the building, after all, besides the security team at the ground floor.

The man guarding the entrance threw her a concerned look as she stepped out of the elevator into the reception hall.

"Ist Frau Rose okay?" he asked her.

Ruby had to think for a second; translate the sentence in her head. He asked her if Weiss was alright. Ruby nodded and worded a strongly accented reply: "Ja, nur müde." Yes, just tired. At least she thought that's what she said. Her Athlesian was still not as good as she liked.

The man nodded and opened the door for Ruby. She thanked him and made her way towards Weiss' black Mercedes. She carefully laid her on the backseat, secured her with a safety belt and took her seat in the driver's seat.

* * *

The sun was high already when Weiss started to awaken. She mumbled something about cake butlers to herself as the light forced its way through her closed eye lids.

She felt warmth surrounding her. A gentle, familiar feeling. A soft, careful peek with a half open eye confirmed that she was in her bedroom, tucked in under large and silky blankets.

She turned around, to get her face away from the window and to throw a quick glance at the alarm clock on the nightstand. 9:43 in the morning. Way too late for her, usually.

Ruby was in the kitchen, still in her pajamas, and nibbled on an apple while flipping through the pages of one of Weiss's magazines. Looking over the pictures of well-dressed women (with one or two being rather attractive, she had to admit), and reading some of the articles confirmed that she really was not one for the world of fashion.

She heard the pitter-patter of feet on carpet as Weiss approached the kitchen. "Morning, darling," she called out, long before Weiss entered the room.

Weiss rubbed her eyes as they adapted to the bright light in the kitchen. "Morning," she mumbled back.

Ruby got up from the table and gave her wife a hug and gentle kiss on the lips. "How did you sleep?"

Weiss relaxed into the hug and said: "Good. Still tired, though."

Ruby chuckled a bit. "Of course. You don't give your body enough time to rest."

A grumble was the reply she got. Weiss knew Ruby was right, of course, but she did it for a reason. She wanted the chairmen gone from the company, and she would find a way, even if it kills her!

Okay, maybe she would not go that far.

"Come on," Ruby said. "Take a seat, I will make you breakfast."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Ruby demanded Weiss took it easy the next few days. Luckily, it was the weekend, so she actually could without having the feeling of skipping work when she actually could get something done. But she knew, when she returned on Monday, she had files over files waiting for her on her desk.

On Tuesday they got the appointment for finding out the gender of the child. She was ecstatic, even if she tried not to show it. She already informed Aki that she would take the day off then.

Currently, Weiss was sitting on a chair in her garden, reading a book. She needed to get her mind busy with _something_ , otherwise she would always think about work. She wasn't finished, after all. She never was.

It was a nice, sunny Saturday, she had to admit. It wasn't really hot; this was Atlas, after all. But a mild wind was blowing, the sky was clear and the sun was high.

Ruby was out to her favorite gym. She wanted to get a few hours of workout done, because, as she said, she worked hard for her physique, and in the last months did not enough to sustain it.

So, that meant Weiss was alone. She enjoyed it. Peace and quiet was a rarity in the city, and she took every opportunity she could get. And with Ruby in the house basically every day, not even her humble abode was really silent nowadays.

She took a sip from her glass of iced tea placed on the table next to her, flipped over a page of her book and lost herself in the exciting adventure of a young knight.

A buzzing reached her ear.

Weiss groaned out in frustration. She put the book down in the table and reached into her pants' pocket, reaching for her scroll. Her anger subsided when she saw who dared to call her.

"Hello, Blake!"

"Hi, Weiss," came her happy voice from the other end. "Listen, I am currently in Atlas, and wanted to know if you got time. We could hit the city together for a bit."

Weiss almost knocked the chair over, so fast did she jump out off it. "Of course," she practically screamed in joy, "where should we meet?"

Blake couldn't help but giggle. "How about that little café opposite the airship port?"

"Sure, I'll be right there."

Weiss never moved so fast in her life, she felt like. She dashed into the house and pulled her car keys out of the drawers of a little side table in the hallway, and humming a little tune, she got into her car and drove out of the driveway. Finally, something to do!

* * *

"No reply," Qrow said. He peeped into the kitchen window of the house and craned his neck, trying to spot any movement.

Winter tapped her foot in nervousness, her scroll on her ear. "She is not picking up either."

"Maybe something came up and she is busy."

"On a Saturday?" Winter replied in disbelieve.

But Qrow did not humor her with a response. He took out his own scroll and dialed a number. "Hey, Ruby. Qrow here. Listen, do you know where Weiss is? Winter and I need to talk to her, and she doesn't answer her scroll." A short pause. "Uhu?" Another longer one. "Okay. Thanks anyway."

"She doesn't know?" Winter asked, her voice ever growing more concerned.

He shook his head. "Ruby said when she left Weiss was at home in the garden. She assumed she might have gone into the city."

"Finding her could take hours," Winter said with a concerned look towards the road they came.

"Well, no time like the present, right?" Qrow replied as he entered his car again. "Let's go look for her, and you try calling her again. Sooner or later she has to pick up."

* * *

"Oh, boy, that hits the spot."

Weiss smiled warmly as she watched Blake enjoy her meal, a breaded trout fillet. "Seems like you were hungry."

"You have no idea," the faunus replied, stuffing her mouth with more fish. "I was up since four in the morning. I had to take the earliest airship possible because I wanted to get some interviews done for my article."

"Oh, what's it about?" Weiss inquired.

"Well," Blake began and took another bite, "It's about the faunus and how the SDC changed the treatment of them here in Atlas."

Oh, boy, here it was. The SDC treated the faunus better ever since Weiss was in charge, true, and she did everything in her power to get it done as fast as possible, but still, one woman can only do so much in three years. "Go on", she said with anticipation.

"I went to Atlas because I got a tip, that apparently stuff isn't all happy as it seems."

"What… what do you mean?"

"You see", Blake began as she fished out her scroll from her jacket, "for example…" She stopped herself, and decided to begin anew. "When you took over the company, you wanted to integrate the faunus into the city and the people of Altas. You remember the neighborhood built by the DSC where the faunus slave workers and other", she drew quotation marks in the air with her fingers, " _supervision-intensive individuals_ were locked away to?"

Weiss nodded. "I do. I gave the order to relocate the people to more humane houses and living spaces, and to destroy the neighborhood they used to live in."

"And how far did they get with that?" Blake asked, her voice carrying a bit of weight with it, as if she knew Weiss' answer. She flipped through something on her scroll.

"It… it was destroyed, obviously. I gave out the order. The newspapers and TV stations were full of it here. It was big news."

"But you never went there yourself", Blake stated. She did not leave Weiss any chance to answer. With what seemed like practiced ease she flipped her scroll over and presented her a picture on it.

It showed faunus, with dirty clothes, sitting on some stairs, talking, in front of a rundown, dirty building covered in graffiti. Blake swiped over the screen. The next picture showed a malnourished child holding something which seemed like a dead rat. Maybe its meal. Blake swiped over.

And Weiss lost all color in her face, inhaled sharply and hastily averted her gaze.

"These are pictures from the very same place you just said was destroyed," Blake explained as she put her scroll away.

Weiss struggled to fight down the urge to dry-heave. "I… I had absolutely no idea, you have to believe me," she forced out.

"I know. And I think that's a problem. Because this begs the question: What else don't you know? What else is the SDC doing they deliberately hide from you? Remember the evening we all came to visit, Yang, Türkis, your father-in-law, Raven and I?"

Weiss nodded.

"You were playing with Türkis in the hallway when we talked about you two having a child. Yang said something I did not think much of at first, but now… She said that it wouldn't be a problem if you two stayed home and took care of a child, because a company like the SDC would not collapse without you. Now, I honestly believe they don't _want_ you there."

To call Weiss stunned would have been an understatement. Could she have been right? She tried to find something to argue against Blake's points, but the more she thought about it, the more the words of the faunus seemed to fit into place. What _did_ she do the time she was at work since she became pregnant? She read e-mails. She made some phone calls, but only internal ones. She read the files of her chairmen. That's it.

And if she was honest, even before her pregnancy, it was basically the same. She thought she made some important decisions, like the one about the _faunus sector_ , as it was called back then. But Blake showed her the pictures. Nothing happened. She thought she changed the treatment of faunus; thought she made a difference. She didn't do shit!

"But… but the news. It was in the paper, the television! I closed it!" she practically begged.

Blake sighed. She felt sorry for Weiss, she really did. But she had to do it. It wasn't her fault the truth hurt. She took out her scroll again, and showed her another picture. It was of people at what looked like a buffet, talking, drinks in hand. The Schnee Dust Company emblem was prominently in frame, on two giant banners.

"This is a picture of a funeral not long ago." Blake pointed to two men standing on the right on the image. They seemed to converse without real worry, untouched by the fact that someone died. "Those two men here are Schauss Vermilion and Maximilian Scharlach. Especially this Scharlach is very interesting. He is the owner of the Atlesian newspaper and owns seven TV stations. Now, I ask you, why would he be at a funeral for an SDC employee?"

Weiss understood what Blake was implying. "Publicity stunts. He makes the company look good by pulling the wool over the public's eyes."

"Bingo. No one knew that the SDC still treats us faunus like dirt because the media told them something completely different. Hell, a country with such a high level of security can easily keep journalists of other countries out and threaten their own."

A sigh escaped Weiss' lips. She knew the SDC was powerful and influential, of course, but she was never quite aware to what an extent. They managed to trick her, the owner and – at least so she thought – CEO of the company. Tricking the public was child's play.

"This fish rots from the head down. Something really big is going on, and I want to figure out what. I was hoping you could help me with it."

Weiss was silent for a second. Her fingers trailed the rim of her cup as she spoke: "What do you need?"


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: I can only apologize for the long time it took me to update the story. Long story short, life happened hard and fast. I got a job as a composer for a video game project, and that pretty much took up all of my time the last few months. Rest assured, this story is NOT dead. However, expect updates to be slower from here on out.**

Chapter 19

"You know we have to talk about it."

"We really don't", Qrow replied, matter-of-factly.

Winter groaned out in frustration. They've been driving through the city for two hours now, no sign of her sister anywhere. And now the two were alone for an extended period of time, and the blockhead did not want to talk. How typical.

She steered the car onto a road leading deeper into the city. "You act like a child, you know that?"

"I don't care. You know my reason."

"Sure, but you're acting like a child about it. You try to avoid it in hopes of the issue just disappearing, but you're just running away, changing nothing. You know that."

Qrow stayed silent.

"And what was with you at my sister's home, huh? Ruby pulls you in at your hair, basically, and as soon as you see me you pull some weird show as if everything was hunky-dory. And _then_ we leave and you are back to your moody self again."

Qrow sighed. "I just wanted her to leave me alone, okay? The fastest way to that is to make her believe she got her way."

Winter sighed. If he didn't reek of booze so much that she was uncertain he could drive himself, she would have stopped his car and left. "I hope we find my sister soon."

"Me too," came the grumbled reply.

Without saying another word, Winter steered the car further into the centrum of the city, passing a little flower shop to the east.

* * *

Weiss steered her car out of the city, driving past a little flower shop to the west. Blake was hard at work, scroll in hand, on the passenger's seat, seemingly crosschecking some information.

"What are you looking at?"

Blake stole a quick glance over to Weiss, as she replied: "Just some notes I made about the guys behind the names. It's not much."

"Unsurprisingly. If information about them would be so easily to come by they would have no quiet minute."

"Sure, but one can hope, right?"

A crooked grin spread over Weiss' face. "I know you would have gotten everything you needed already."

Blake nodded. "And where's the fun in that?"

"Right", Weiss giggled in response.

The drive back to the house was rather uneventful afterwards. Blake told a few stories about what her daughter did: some hijinks, when she was especially well-behaved, and anything in between. Weiss loved these anecdotes. It filled her with a sense of content and happiness that made her all the more excited for the birth of her own child.

"Okay, I informed my boss about Monday", Blake said, pulling Weiss out of her fantasy.

A nod. "That's good. You wanna tell Yang too?"

"Of course. But I can do that later today, anyway."

Weiss steered the car into the driveway of her house. As she and Blake exited the car, the front door opened, and Ruby stepped outside to greet them.

"There is my beautiful girl. Did you talk to Winter?"

Weiss regarded her wife with a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"

"Well, Qrow called me. He and Winter were here and wanted to talk with you. Sounded important."

The snow-head's hand travelled into her pocket and pulled out her scroll. She tapped on the screen, to see if she missed any calls, but it was unresponsive.

"Seems like the battery died. I must have forgotten to charge it yesterday," she sighed out.

"Must have happened when we were at the café", Blake assumed.

She stuffed the scroll back into her pocket. After locking the car, she went straight into her bedroom and fished the charger out of her nightstand. She plugged it in, but for a few seconds the display stayed black. When she was almost certain that her scroll was broken, it finally lit up and showed the battery status at zero percent.

She placed her scroll down on the nightstand and made her way into the living room, where Blake and her wife were already seated and engaging in a bit of small talk.

"You're back earlier than usual", Weiss mentioned towards Ruby in a moment of silence in the conversation between her and Blake.

An embarrassed giggle came from the redhead, as she awkwardly replied: "Well, I was kind of concerned about you. I thought something might have happened, so I cut my training short to wait for you."

Weiss, overwhelmed with this confession and Ruby's frankly adorable awkwardness, couldn't help herself and gave her a deep kiss, combine with the strongest hug she could muster. "Don't worry," she assured her. "There is nothing to worry about."

"Can we come to why I am here, now?"

The Roses shifted their attentions towards their guest on the sofa, who, with a slight grin on her lips, waited patiently for the two to finish their displays of affection.

"Right, of course." Weiss straightened herself out. Not out of embarrassment, mind you. This was her house, and she would show her affection openly here, no matter who happens to observe. No, she did it because what the two had to talk about was highly important, after all.

"Oh, what's up? Something important?"

"You could say that", Weiss replied to her wife. "Blake found out about some shady shit the SDC pulled, and she wants to bust the people behind it. And I am going to help her."

Ruby's silver eyes darted between her wife and Blake. "Okay, you said there is nothing to worry about, but I am a tiny bit concerned now. Don't get yourself in anything dangerous, you hear?"

Weiss escaped a slight chuckle. "Yes, I hear you. Loud and clear."

"Okay, so", Blake begun. "You said you have all the files of your chairmen?"

"Yeah. They are in my office. Most likely still spread all over my desk, after Ruby pulled me away from it." She stole a not-quite-serious look over to the redhead, how grinned in her direction.

"Perfect. On Monday, I will come visit you, act like I just came over to meet up with an old friend I haven't seen in forever. Just to keep suspicions low. The walls have ears, after all."

"Right", Weiss agreed with a nod. "Also, you should probably mention that you're the partner of the sister of Ruby Rose. Everyone in the building knows her, and you would not believe how many people security has to send away every day because they claim to be old friends or long-lost relatives."

"Noted", Blake smiled.

"As soon as you're in my office, you take pictures of the documents with your scroll while we do some small talk. You can't exactly walk out there with a bunch of photocopies of highly confidential documents."

"Wait, wait, wait", Ruby interrupted. "That sounds kinda highly illegal."

"Ruby, please", Weiss responded. "Yes, it may not be the most orthodox method, but what Blake revealed to me today, any method to give those slimy dickheads their just deserts is welcomed on my end."

Ruby regarded her wife with a look of uncertainty. She didn't like what she heard one bit, but she also knew that Weiss would do nothing that would put her or others at risk.

Or rather, she hoped.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

The sun began to set over the horizon, casting a calming blanket of orange over the fields and through the windows of the mansion. Weiss offered Blake to stay for dinner, and that she would drive her back to the air ship station. The faunus gladly accepted. The only food she had today was the fish this morning with Weiss in the café, so she was positively famished.

A few minutes prior, the cat faunus's plate was filled with steamed vegetables, a slice of roast and gravy sauce. Now, the clean white of the expensive porcelain plate looked at her.

Ruby and Weiss were not even halfway through their helping. Too much chatter and laughing took care of that.

"If you want, you can get seconds," Ruby suggested.

Blake peeked over to the stove, where the pots were still steaming, half-filled with food. "Well," she started, raising from the table. "Don't mind if I do."

Weiss and Ruby shared a smile upon seeing their friend (and, as far as they are concerned, family member) almost drooling over the remaining dinner.

Until the doorbell rang.

For a second, confusion spread over the Roses' faces. Weiss' brows furrowed in a silent question if Ruby knew who it could be. Ruby just shrugged.

As Blake returned with a massive helping of pretty much everything still remaining on the stove, Ruby got up and answered the door.

Qrow and Winter were waiting on the other side of it.

"Hey, Ruby," Qrow greeted. "We saw Weiss' car in the driveway. I assume she is back."

"One could think that, yes," was the sarcastic reply.

"We're sorry we have to bother you so late," Winter said. "But we really need to talk to my sister."

Ruby stepped aside and motioned them in. Without another word, she walked into the kitchen, back to her dinner. Blake already halfway done with her helping, and, upon seeing the new guests, grew embarrassed over her messy way of eating, which was evident in the splotches on her face. Involuntarily, she turned away from Qrow and Winter.

"Oh, we didn't know you were eating," Winter sheepishly said.

"What do you want?" asked Weiss.

"We wanted to talk to you about something we found out about your company. We think the head-honchos of it are planning something shady behind your back," Qrow replied.

"We know," Weiss and Blake replied out of one mouth.

"Um," Qrow stuttered, and together with Winter, only croaked out a short: "what?"

Weiss nodded as she chewed. "I was already informed about it, and I intend to do something about it as soon as possible."

"Wait a minute," Winter said in bewilderment. "You want to do what now? I have to ask you to not do that, Weiss. That's what we are here for."

Weiss regarded her sister with a defiant look. "No can do, Winter. I have to do this."

"No!" The sternness in Winter's voice took everyone aback. "You will do nothing, and this is an order."

Carefully, Weiss placed her cutlery next to her plate and stood up. She approached her sister with calm steps, looked her square in the eye, and said: "I am a civilian. You cannot give me any orders."

"I can, if the military is investigating internal affairs. This puts us, by Athlesian law, on the same level as police forces. And as such, I have executive power, and can even arrest you if I fear you would interfere with any of our investigations," Winter replied, her voice calm. There was no need for her to raise her voice. She was the authority here, after all.

Weiss huffed as she crossed her arms. "I haven't done anything yet. So why are you threatening me?"

Her sister's features soften immediately. "Please, Weiss. I didn't mean to. I was just trying to make you understand that I would be forced to do it."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Bullshit," she spat out.

"Weiss," Winter sighed out. "Such language is really unbefitting of you."

"I would advise you," Ruby's voice boomed from behind Weiss, calling the attention of the two unexpected guests, "to not tell her how to behave in her own house."

Winter was hesitant for a second. Her eyes darted with uncertainty between her sister, who now carried a smug smile, and Ruby, who stopped eating, had her hands folded in front of her face and her arms rested on the dinner table. Her silver eyes were cold, fixated on Winter and Qrow like a hawk stalking its prey.

Weiss knew Ruby would not actually lash out against Winter and Qrow, and she was certain the two knew as well. That didn't make Ruby's threat any less impactful.

"I'm sorry," Winter quickly blurted out.

Ruby threw her one last warning look, before continuing eating.

"A-Anyway, Weiss. I can only repeat that you should not try and act by yourself. Who knows what you could get yourself into? We're talking about terrorism here!"

Ruby froze mid-chew, Blake almost dropped her fork into her food, and Weiss' face showed nothing but confusion.

"Honey?" Ruby called. "What is she talking about?"

"Yes," Weiss wondered. "What _are_ you talking about?"

Winter sighed dejected. She did not intent to mention anything regarding the investigation. She threw Qrow a look which screamed for help. He replied by nodding his head towards her sister in a silent urge to just tell her.

"Well," she began, trailing her hand through her bangs, "you have heard of Cobalt Winsor, right?"

Weiss had to think for a second. "Oh, right," she said, "he was killed a while ago. Was part of the company. I had a talk about his funeral with one of my chairmen." She tried to put as much distain as possible into the last word.

Winter continued: "He was killed by a bomb. Suicide bomber, to be precise. We tried to investigate if the Public Freedom Vacuo was behind it, as many other attacks they did were similar in nature. However…" She hesitated for a second, trying to find the right way to break the news to her sister. "It seems our investigations were hampered by the Schnee Dust Company."

This time it was Weiss' turn to sigh. "Of course…"

"I hope you understand now why I cannot allow you to investigate on your own. It could put you in danger. And your child."

Involuntarily, Weiss' hand traveled down towards her abdomen.

Winter shifted her attention towards Ruby and Blake. "Well, we better leave now. Apologies again for interrupting your dinner. Weiss," she began as she turned back to her sister, "expect a visit from us in the near future at your office. While no one suspects you having anything to do with it, we have to investigate you regardless. Standard procedure, I believe you understand."

Qrow and Winter gave a goodbye to the three women and left. Weiss, who accompanied them to the door, took her seat at the dinner table again. She was about to silently dig back into her food, as Ruby spoke: "I agree with Winter."

"I know," Weiss sighed out. "Don't worry, Ruby. Blake will just get some pictures, and then she is gone again. I will not do anything irrational, okay?"

The faunus agreed with a strong nod. "Exactly, just leave everything to me. You can sit back without a care in the world."

"Until something happens to you, and Yang jumps down my throat because I knew about it and didn't stop it."

"Ruby, relax, will you," Blake said softly. "It's my job to gather information in secrecy. I did it a hundred times before."

"Besides," Weiss added, "we'll be in my private office. Nobody has access to it besides myself."


End file.
